SnapGear Inc. has embedded its VPN appliance technology into a smart PCI NIC card which contains a built-in security processor. Controlled by an embedded Linux operating system (uClinux, to be precise), the SnapGear PCI630 provides full multi-VPN capabilities for secure access and communication, the company said.

The new SnapGear PCI card is essentially a self-contained, multi-tasking, network computer on a card, that offloads all firewall and VPN processing from the host computer. The result, according to SnapGear, is improved performance, increased security, remote management, and simple installation. Also, because the device is independent of the host computer, network administrators have the ability to mitigate intrusion by isolating affected systems.

A tiny Linux system on a standard PCI card

“As security threats continue to increase in frequency and sophistication security regimes must evolve rapidly just to stay in the race,” commented SnapGear CEO Rick Stevenson. “The PCI630 is the first in a range of new products from SnapGear that will provide the ability to incorporate security at previously unprotected interfaces inside enterprise and SME networks, enhancing the ability to construct multilayered security architectures. The use of an autonomous security processor based on a hardened embedded Linux operating system and non-x86 CPU is particularly beneficial for protecting Wintel servers.”

Additionally, SnapGear says fitting DMZ-based servers with two PCI630 cards allows remote access to network services while being effectively sandwiched between two integral VPN Firewall appliances. By taking advantage of the inherent VPN remote-remote access capabilities of the card, server administrators can thus allow remote users secure access to DMZ-based hosts and application gateways with greater security and risk management.

SnapGear says the new PCI630 VPN Firewall NIC will be available in April, priced at $299 (USD).

 
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