Array Networks Debuts SPX5000, a New Class of Enterprise VPN Appliances, at NetWorld+Interop 2005

Significantly Higher Performance and Scalability Makes the SPX5000 the New Standard for Large Enterprise SSL VPNs

Las Vegas, NV, May 3, 2005 - Array Networks, a leading provider of secure application deployment appliances for Global 2000 companies, today introduced the SPX5000, a new Enterprise VPN appliance with unsurpassed security, performance and scalability for large-scale enterprise networks. The SPX5000 supports 64,000 concurrent users, 250 VLANs, and 128 virtual sites all within a single appliance. The SPX5000 running the new ArrayOS 7.3 software is up to 200 percent faster than the previous generation of SSL VPNs and is able to sustain near Gigabit line rate with SSL traffic. This is the first time that an SSL VPN product offers this level of performance and scalability making this a worthy candidate to replace the large IPSec VPN gateways used at large enterprises. It will be demonstrated at Array’s booth at the 2005 Networld+Interop Conference in Las Vegas.

“The demand for SSL VPNs is strong and will continue to grow,” said John Girard, Gartner. “Leading network vendors are investing in SSL VPNs and legitimizing their use as alternatives to IPsec.”

“The SPX5000 introduction marks the next critical step for Array Networks as we solidify our leadership position in large enterprise VPN market,” said Michael Zhao, president and CEO, Array Networks. “Our products are already installed at six of the world’s ten largest banks, major Bay area software companies, major telecommunications providers and a number of other organizations around the world. We are pleased to offer the market a new appliance that combines powerful security, with high performance and unsurpassed scalability, all at a cost far less than our competitors.”

About the SPX5000

The Array SPX5000 delivers strong features that enhance the administration and management of secure remote access including: vendor access support, virtual routing, virtualized portals, application level filtering, administrative lockout, advanced VPN address management, URL aliasing, proxy compatibility, and enhanced Windows and Linux client support.

The SPX5000’s platform supports up to 64,000 concurrent users and provides Layer 3 VPN support for Microsoft Windows and Linux-based clients.

The vendor access feature is a two-tier authentication control that allows vendors to access the network for troubleshooting purposes themselves instead of a more time-consuming support call. Previously, a vendor would contact an NOC who would then need to authorize access from a project sponsor before the vendor could enter the DMZ. The new vendor access feature uses Array Open Architecture (AoA) to implement a middleware application that makes manual authentication easier to do.

The SPX5000’s virtual routing feature empowers each of the 128 possible virtual sites supported on each appliance with the same features and functionality of a single, standalone SSL VPN appliance. This feature allows each virtual site to co-exist on the same platform which allows each virtual site to be deployed between distinct end user bases, including partners, customers, and employees, to name a few. Virtual routing provides centralized control over a distributed network with all resources accessed and managed in the same place. Each virtual portal’s administrator can manage their own virtual site policies, while global administrators can do system level management as well as allocation and monitoring of the 250 VLANs and 128 virtual sites on the same SPX5000 appliance. Each one of these 128 virtual sites can share the same public domain name, IP address, port and certificates while having independent networks on the private side of the virtual sites. These URL aliasing features reduce IP address space usage and lower certificate costs.

The SPX5000’s application level filtering enhances the deep packet inspection capabilities of the built-in SSL VPN firewall feature set to perform full content inspection of protocols and access control policies based on layer 7 data. The SPX5000 application layer filtering supports Telnet, FTP, and HTTP, and can be extended to arbitrary IP-based protocols. Session traffic is permitted or denied based on pre-configured parameters.

The administrative lockout function allows particular users to be placed on a black list. If this user is online, they will be denied access the moment the administrator locks out this specific user.

The SPX also provides Thin Client infrastructure support for TCP-based protocols that allow for the development of Java or ActiveX clients which can then be attached to the SSL VPN portal. This feature provides for true thin-client deployments such as a portal deployed telnet client.

The HTTP user redirect feature is designed for the following situation. When the appliance fails in the middle of a transaction, a user can reload and return to the application state by connecting through other appliances in a cluster that takes over for the VIP. Other appliances in the cluster will assume the HTTP traffic associated with a box that fails while handling live traffic.

The SPX5000 provides organizations with powerful network security and Web optimization functionality including SSL VPN access for Web and legacy applications, identity management, and application-layer firewalling, as well as Web-based traffic management features

Pricing and Availability

The Array SPX5000 is priced at $40,000 U.S. list for basic configuration with support for 250 concurrent users. It is available immediately.

About Array Networks

Array Networks is a world leader in secure application acceleration and deployment appliances for global enterprises. Built upon the Array SpeedStackT technology, Array's unified secure content access solutions enable industry-leading performance, integration, scalability and ease of implementation and management. Headquartered in Campbell, California with sales offices in the U.S., Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America, Array engineers and manufactures its products in the Silicon Valley and sells them through direct and indirect channels across the globe. For more information, visit www.arraynetworks.net or call 1-866-MY-ARRAY. (408) 378-6800).

Array Networks, Array SPX and Array SP are trademarks of Array Networks. All product and company names are trademarks of their respective organizations.

Contact: Jennifer Rivera Schwartz Communications For Array Networks (415) 512-0770 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it