3Com Tightens Security Fabric

3Com, which is in the process of being acquired by Hewlett-Packard, is advocating for the tight coupling of security and network management by integrating blades running security software developed by its Tipping Point unit directly inside a 3Com switch chassis. This allows the security module to be seen as an element of a common management framework, while still making dedicated processing resources available to run security software so as to not compromise network performance, said Dom Wilde, 3Com senior director for global product line markering.

The degree to which IT organizations want to converge security and network management is up to them, Wilde added. Specific roles for security and network management can be specified or both functions can be handled by a single set of administrators. In either scenario what’s important, said Wilde, is that a large set of disparate switches and security appliances can now be more easily managed as one large virtual pool of resources by a single set of administrators.

The 3Com approach, said Wilde, also saves money by allowing IT organizations to consolidate a number of security appliances inside a 3Com switch.

The new 3Com offerings include an H3C S9500E switch, a TippingPoint 1500S appliance, enhancements to the TippingPoint portal and support for a new TippingPoint Secure Virtualization Framework that allows virtual machine traffic to be analyzed by a TippingPoint intrusion prevention system.