ID Series

A10 Networks offers their ID series of appliances specifically targeted to network identification management and authentication; currently consisting of the IDsentrie and IDaccess appliances.

IDSentrie is a 1U/2U Identity and Access Management appliance that provides multiple identity-related capabilities for security administrators. Two versions of the appliance are offered; differing primarily in total capacity and bandwidth supported. The IDsentrie 1000 sports 4 10/100/1000 ports; while the IDsentrie 2000 boasts 8 10/100/1000 and dual SFP fiber ports, as well as dual drives, fans, and power supplies. Both also contain an RS-232 console port. Management of the device is via a Web (HTTP/HTTPS) GUI, CLI, or SNMP v1/2.

Key features and capabilities of IDsentrie include:

- Unified Identity Management: Made possible by the unit's ability to collect information from multiple disparate identity stores and present the information as a single, virtual directory to the system administrator. Changes made in the virtual directory can then be synchronized and propagated to all the managed stores. The vendor notes that multiple stores are supported, including LDAP, OpenLDAP, AD, eDirectory, iPlanet Directory Server, Windows NT, Kerberos v5, Solaris, Red Hat / Fedora Linux, and RSA SecurID.

- Authentication: The appliance can authenticate users against its own internal data store and supports RADIUS, 802.1X, and Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) protocols. Additionally, the device can serve as an authentication proxy to existing stores.

- User Self-Service: Allowing end users to change/reset their own passwords and manage their account information; including password and profile synchronization between data stores.

- IP-to-ID resolution service, which seeks to provide "instant" resolution of IP or Mac addresses to actual user identities. Both batch and real-time processing is supported; with access to the service provided through the management GUI, CLI, and Universal Identity Resolver-enabled client applications.

Other features of the IDSentrie platform include activity and audit reports (over 140 as of this writing); the Identity Event Manager (IEM), which augments traditional logging/reporting systems with identity-based reports; a DHCP Server with support for the quarantining of users until they have authenticated; an authentication SDK; and a guest access portal--a GUI interface that enables front-line personnel to create and manage guest accounts for access to the network.

New to the IDsentrie product family are the IDaccess appliances, which themselves are based on the IDsentrie platform and provide a subset of IDsentrie's network authentication features. The IDaccess appliances do not contain the Unified Identity Management, user self-service, and IEM capabilities of the IDsentrie; but do include a RADIUS server as well as RADIUS and 802.1X/EAP authentication proxying for existing authentication servers, as well as the IP-to-ID resolution support, DHCP-based isolation for non-authenticated users, and the guest access portal.

The IDaccess is initially offered in two flavors; both with 4 10/100/1000 ports and a 160 GB drive. The IDaccess 500 supports up to 3,000 users and 100 devices; while the IDaccess 800 supports up to 10,000 users and 300 devices.

Both the IDsentrie and the IDaccess appliances are available now; pricing ranges from $19,995 to $29,995 for the IDsentrie; and $3,995 to $11,995 for IDaccess.

Visit the vendor's Web site for further information.