Microsoft Announces Appliance Partner Agreements To Deliver Hardware Security Solutions Based on ISA Server 2004

SAN DIEGO, May 24, 2004 — Today at its TechEd conference, Microsoft Corp. announced agreements with an initial group of appliance partners to extend the advanced protection, ease of use and fast, more secure Web access benefits of Microsoft®
Internet Security and Acceleration Server (ISA Server) 2004 to customers who want all those benefits in a dedicated hardware solution. ISA Server 2004, part of Windows Server System (TM) , is the advanced application layer firewall, virtual private networking (VPN) and Web cache software solution that enables customers to easily maximize existing IT investments by improving network security and performance.

The first group of partners agreeing to integrate ISA Server 2004 with their platforms includes Celestix Networks Inc., which plans a firewall-VPN-Web cache solution; HP, which also plans a firewall-VPN-Web cache solution; and Network Engines Inc., which plans a firewall solution.

“Customers have told us that they appreciate the improvements we’ve made in advanced protection, ease of use and fast, more secure access with ISA Server 2004,” said Mike Nash, corporate vice president of the Security Business & Technology Unit at Microsoft. “We are incredibly excited to be working with leading appliance vendors to extend those benefits and deliver a range of solutions that will help safeguard applications against the increasingly persistent and sophisticated types of attacks we are seeing today.”

“As a result of today’s announcement, customers will now have the ability to better protect business applications against new and emerging threats, while enjoying unprecedented ease of use with ISA Server 2004,” said Rick Fricchione, vice president of Enterprise Microsoft Services at HP. “In addition, our close collaboration with Microsoft to deliver the HP ProLiant DL320 running Microsoft ISA Server 2004 makes deployment a snap and offers customers the flexibility they have been asking for.”

“By making ISA Server 2004 available as an appliance solution, Microsoft is addressing a critical customer objective of having easy-to-deploy-and-maintain information security solutions,” said Mark Bouchard, senior program director at META Group Inc. “The trend in the market is definitely toward appliance form factors, particularly for firewalls, VPN devices and other infrastructure-oriented security controls. Overall, this should drive further interest in ISA 2004 as an enterprise solution.”

ISA Server 2004-based hardware solutions are expected to have several benefits in common:

  • Hardened configuration for a reduced attack surface

  • Rich extensibility that enables customers to take advantage of third-party security add-ons, such as anti-virus and intrusion prevention

  • Software preinstalled and preconfigured for turnkey deployment

  • Out-of-the-box setup wizards and templates that greatly simplify the process of setting network security policies and procedures

  • Single point of contact — the appliance vendor — for all sales, service and support

In addition, hardware solutions resulting from Microsoft’s efforts with partners take advantage of new advanced protection features in ISA Server 2004, including a completely updated security architecture that has been specifically designed to help protect Microsoft applications. A new graphically focused user interface, automated wizards and templates, and new logging and monitoring capabilities have also been added, freeing IT professionals to spend more time on more core business issues. ISA Server 2004 integration with Windows® Active Directory®
services also enables administrators to apply user- and group-level policy and authentication across a broad range of scenarios, including firewall policy, VPN authentication, and outbound Web proxy and access control. This ease of use makes ISA Server 2004, whether deployed in hardware or software, an ideal solution for helping to improve the security of Windows Server (TM) 2003 networks.

ISA Server 2004 Standard Edition will be publicly available in the third quarter of this calendar year. Pricing has been set at $1,499 per processor for deployments of up to four processors per server.

About Windows Server System

Microsoft Windows Server System is an integrated and interoperable server infrastructure that reduces IT complexity to enable IT professionals to deliver innovative solutions that meet the changing needs of business. With Windows Server 2003 at the foundation, Windows Server System is engineered from the ground up for XML Web services based on Microsoft .NET technologies to connect information, people, systems and devices. Based on a common software architecture that spans all facets of IT from design, development and deployment through ongoing management and usage, Windows Server System provides comprehensive IT infrastructure for operations (security, systems management, networked storage), applications (data management and analysis, e-business) and information work (messaging, communications and collaboration). More information on Microsoft Windows Server System can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserversystem/ .

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Microsoft, Windows Server System, Windows, Active Directory and Windows Server are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.

The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

Note to editors: If you are interested in viewing additional information on Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft Web page at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/ on Microsoft’s corporate information pages. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may since have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/contactpr.asp .

Related Posts