New security gateway virtual appliances

Secure Computing announced it is working with VMware to provide customers with security gateway virtual appliances for organizations of all sizes. These appliances for VMware environments will provide customers with an easy way to implement and manage security for multiple virtual machines, or multiple applications within a virtual machine, through a single gateway. This enables customers to capitalize on the business benefits of VMware virtualization — such as reduced capital and operating expenses, assured business continuity and a “greener” carbon footprint — while ensuring security across the datacenter in ways not possible in a physical environment.

Through its relationship with VMware, all of Secure Computing’s security gateway appliances can be deployed as preconfigured virtual appliances onto new or existing hardware without the cost and space required of traditional security implementations. Customers can deploy different Secure Computing appliances, each on its own virtual machine, on a single server.

Customers can also reduce administrative overhead by using Secure Computing’s central management system, Secure Firewall CommandCenter to manage a pool of virtual security appliances protecting one or multiple customer environments. For example, customers or managed service providers can deploy up to 32 separate firewalls, each running on its own virtual machine on a single server, and manage all of them from a single point. With any of the scenarios, customers benefit from the ease of preconfigured security without the cost and space required to manage multiple appliances.

Evaluation versions of virtualized Secure Firewall (formerly Sidewinder), Secure Web (formerly Webwasher) and Secure Mail (formerly IronMail) are scheduled to be available by June 2008. Commercial versions of Secure Firewall, Secure Web and Secure Mail are scheduled to be available in the third quarter of 2008.