Netsurion launches SD-WAN platform Netsurion Connect
Network security services company Netsurion is rolling into the SD-WAN market with the launch of Netsurion Connect, which the company said combines network connectivity, security and management for distributed enterprises and IoT environments.
Netsurion was founded in 1989. The company initially focused on helping clients better manage their networks by developing a way to manage firewalls remotely. Since then, the company has become a provider of various network security solutions. Its products are used in restaurants, grocery stories, convenience stores, retail, healthcare, hotels and the financial sector, according to Bloomberg.
SD-WAN involves applying the principles of software-defined networking (SDN) to wide-area networks (WANs). The technology has been increasingly adopted to connect and secure data centers and branch offices across geographic distances. Netsurion said its Netsurion Connect uses a proprietary SD-WAN platform with flexible co-management service levels to meet a business’s specific IT resource needs.
“SD-WAN demands are exploding beyond large enterprises looking to replace MPLS at their branch offices; and moving into smaller, more distributed environments, including IoT deployments,” Chief Information Officer at Netsurion Mark Cornwell told RCR Wireless News in an email exchange. “These new markets want many of the same features and functionality of the enterprise branch market, but lack the technical depth at all of their locations, and the IT budget to afford multiple systems that cover both SD-WAN and security.”
When coupled with Netsurion Comply and Netsurion Protect, the company noted Netsurion Connect provides both security and simplified PCI compliance. Configurations and policies are managed from a single pane of glass in the Connect Orchestration too.
Addressing how Netsurion Connect can detect and respond to congestion or failure, Cornwell said, “Netsurion Connect utilizes ping loss/degradation detection to initiate failover. Our failsafe mode constantly monitors connection performance for quality of service determination; and dynamically reprioritizes traffic using a combination of source/destination prioritization, application and port prioritization and traffic type prioritization. Traffic that is outbound over VPN (VOIP, Web Gateway Traffic) is compressed to improve throughput on congested connections.”
Some Netsurion customers are currently using the platform. Software company FTS Solutions, for example, is using Netsurion Connect edge devices and cloud orchestration to help secure and manage its systems remotely. Volta Charging is also using Netsurion Connect to help manage its network of charging stations.
As to what sort of technical challenges customers ought to be aware of in setting up this kind of technology, Cornwell said, “SD-WAN will bring faster more reliable computing and better network connectivity. With that will come greater security risks as data and users (both good and bad) can flow more readily throughout a network. Customers should be sure to look at the scope of what they are buying and be sure to look at all aspects of their networking and security needs.”
