Cisco Product Barrage Focuses On Security

Cisco Systems on Tuesday introduced new routers and virtual private network products aimed at bolstering network security.

The company extended its Cisco 800 Series and SOHO 90 Series broadband routers with advanced IP services including security features for data, voice, and video geared to small offices and telecommuters. Prices for the new routers start at $349.

Cisco also added virtual private network acceleration modules for the 2691, 3660, and 3700 series routers designed to boost VPN performance to branch offices while also decreasing CPU utilization. The products support the Advanced Encryption Standard. The modules start at $2,500.

Also among the company's new products are the Cisco SCA 11000 Series Secure Content Accelerator II appliances that offload Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) processing from back-end Web servers. SCA 11000 is priced at $17,995.

Cisco's IOS software has added in-line firewall and intrusion-detection capabilities with increased support for Session Initiation Protocol, which provides greater voice and video over IP support, as well as detection of additional attack signatures. The new features are available as part of IOS across the 800 to 7000 Series routers.

A new technology called Cisco Identity-Based Networking Services (IBNS) is software that secures communications for mobile or geographically dispersed users. The software can be deployed in conjunction with products such as Cisco Access Control Server for granular network access controls. Cisco IBNS is available today for the Cisco Catalyst 2950, 3550, 4000, and 6500 series switches.

Finally, Cisco Hosting Solution Engine Version 1.7, for secure management of data centers, lets individual groups within an organization perform daily management tasks on a shared network infrastructure. It includes new configuration, performance monitoring, and reporting support for Cisco content-networking and firewall products. The hosting solution engine is priced at $19,995.