Vernier Networks Brings Affordable NAC Appliance to Mid-Size Enterprises and Branch Offices

Business Wire, May 15, 2007

New EdgeWall 8100 Delivers Comprehensive, Easy-to-Deploy NAC Appliance at the Industry's Most Accessible Price Point

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. -- Vernier Networks, the leading supplier of award-winning Network Access Control (NAC) appliances, today expanded its EdgeWall family with the introduction of the EdgeWall 8100. The new appliance offers mid-sized enterprises and branch offices endpoint compliance enforcement, identity-based access control, real-time threat protection and enterprise-wide visibility and control at a price point unmatched in today's market.

EdgeWall 8100 provides full NAC functionality in an affordable, 1U form factor, making it ideally suited for organizations that have historically found NAC too complex and costly. Moreover, EdgeWall 8100 is ideally suited for deployment in mid-size enterprises and branch offices since it requires no client software installation, no switch upgrades, no constant VLAN renumbering, and no changes to authentication systems. The appliance extends Vernier's family of inline NAC options for any network size or deployment, from branch office to wiring closet to network-switching core.

"Comprehensive NAC strategies are essential for organizations of all sizes," said Chris Christiansen, program vice president for IDC's Security Products and Services. "EdgeWall 8100 is a logical extension to Vernier's line of NAC products, and it is well-suited to branch office deployments and to the education, healthcare, public service and utility sectors, which have unique requirements for protecting their unmanaged devices."

Network security professionals can now easily and cost-effectively enforce comprehensive NAC, including employee, contractor, guest and visitor endpoint compliance, continuous post-admission identity-based access control and real-time threat protection. Like EdgeWall 8800, released in November 2006, EdgeWall 8100 features an Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) engine and the SmartScan dissolvable agent that provides compliance scanning and automated remediation for unmanaged endpoints across a broad range of operating systems. SmartScan also enables end users to self-remediate their endpoints, thereby reducing helpdesk calls and lowering total costs associated with unmanaged desktop support.

"With the addition of the 8100 to the EdgeWall family, Vernier extends its easy to deploy NAC solutions to networks of all sizes and at an unrivaled price point," said Simon Khalaf, president and chief executive officer for Vernier Networks. "Product demand from our more than 1,100 customers is evidence that the NAC market is still burgeoning despite recent confusion instigated by switch vendors and limited functionality products masquerading as NAC solutions."

Deployed inline in branch offices or wiring closets, the EdgeWall 8100 is an 8-port, 1U appliance that works with existing switches and requires no switch hardware or firmware upgrades. The appliance operates at 4 Gbps for base NAC functions, while performing deep-packet inspection and application-layer threat protection at 250 Mbps. The EdgeWall 8100 works in conjunction with the Vernier Networks Control Server, offering IT administrators centralized management across distributed EdgeWall deployments and enterprise-wide visibility of activity down to the end-user level.

Pricing & Availability

Vernier's EdgeWall 8100 will be available in Q3 2007 with pricing starting at $8,995.

Live demonstrations can be seen at Vernier Networks' Interop booth (#2025), taking place at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, May 21-25, 2007.

About Vernier Networks' NAC Appliances

Vernier offers IT administrators a complete line of EdgeWall NAC appliances that defend networks against intrusions and attacks by screening users and endpoint devices for desktop policy compliance; restrict access to network resources; inspect network and application traffic for worms and viruses; and enforce remediation on infected and out-of-compliance devices. The EdgeWall 8000 family of appliances delivers the following key security components: wire-speed authenticated and validated access to all users throughout the network; protection from security threats and malicious behavior; continuous compliance inspection; and a fully integrated IPS engine. All of this functionality is delivered for as little as $22 per user - the lowest cost per endpoint of any current NAC solution.

About Vernier Networks

Vernier Networks delivers the industry's leading Network Access Control products that are designed to ensure network compliance. The award-winning EdgeWall product line delivers endpoint compliance enforcement, identity-based access control, real-time threat protection and enterprise-wide network-usage visibility and control. Vernier's products are deployed at more than 1,100 enterprises, higher education institutions, healthcare organizations and government agencies worldwide. Headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., with sales operations and channel partners worldwide, Vernier can be found on the Web at www.verniernetworks.com.