This announcement comes in response to customer demand for flexibility, simplicity and affordability at a time where network infrastructures are becoming increasingly complex.
The concept – comparable to hardware blade server architectures – will allow customers to purchase a ‘container’ which will cater for the hardware specifications, be it one, two, four or eight cores, thus allowing customers to pick and choose from a selection of gateway and management software blades.
This architecture, said Shwed, “means that a customer can choose what modules they want in a completely extensible solution. We’re making things very simple”.
One of the huge advantages of this initiative is that customers are given the control to choose the exact security protections necessary to protect their business.
Each blade is an independent, modular and interoperable security application, such as a VPN, anti-virus, policy management or firewall. In a scheme that Check Point call ‘A la carte’, customers can introduce new blades to their container as and when it becomes necessary.
“One of the biggest features will be the intrusion prevention blade”, said Shwed, “which I believe has a very good chance of changing the intrusion prevention market. It’s low cost and offers the highest level of protection”.
The majority of blades are to be priced at $1500 (£1000 approx). “We’re making it as simple as possible by pricing most blades as the same, affordable price” Shwed told Infosecurity.
Currently, there are approximately twenty blades ready to go to market, but more will become available throughout 2009 (including data loss prevention, network access control, and VoIP security).
The software blades can be deployed on Check Point UTM-1 or Power-1 appliances as well as open servers.
“Our strategy still remains to be the platform for security” insisted Shwed, “we come from a software background and we’ll remain open to ideas. We’re offering a full package but of course, there will be gaps. We’ll continue to work with other vendors to fill them”.
Check Point are confident that this new software blade architecture will revolutionise network security. “No other vendor has all these sets of technologies – it’s a single architecture that no other vendors have come up with.
It’s wasn’t easy to develop, but technology revolution is about taking things that are complicated and making them simple”, Shwed concluded, “That’s how technology works”.
Check Point R70, the first product based on the blade architecture, will be available in March 2009.