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Network associates adds low-end management and security tools

Posted on: Wednesday, 17 September 2003, 06:00 CDT

Pricing about half the cost of Sniffer line

Network Associates Inc. last week announced network and security management software for small and midsize users, saying that the products top out in price at about half of the $12,000 starting cost for its enterprise-class Sniffer tools.

The new Netasyst Network Analyzer software is designed for use in managing 10/100 Ethernet installations and 802.11 wireless networks at companies with up to 500 end users, said Chris Thompson, vice president of product marketing at Network Associates in Santa Clara, Calif.

Netasyst can automate network and application problem-resolution efforts and provide IT managers with packet-level data about network performance and the functioning of firewalls, intrusion-detection systems and other security technologies, Thompson said.

Austin Bank began testing Netasyst early last month on a network that supports operations at 19 branch offices, said Jeff Sowell, a network engineer at the Jacksonville, Texas-based bank. The bank has used the tool to monitor slow response times on a Microsoft SQL Server database application and to track an apparent network intruder, who turned out to be a telephone technician who was using the network for maintenance purposes without notifying the bank.

Sowell said he looked at several network management products but liked the idea of using a tool from a well-known vendor. In addition, Netasyst turned out to be easy to use. An Expert Analysis feature "is handy for somebody like me that doesn't do this every day," he said. "It makes any idiot pretty good at analyzing traffic."

Network Associates is primarily known as a vendor of security software for large companies, said Stephen Elliot, an analyst at IDC in Framingham, Mass. But the network management market for smaller businesses is fragmented and not well served by management tools vendors such as IBM's Tivoli Software unit, Computer Associates International Inc. and HewlettPackard Co., Elliot said.

The closest competitors to Netasyst are products from Ipswitch Inc. in Lexington, Mass., WildPackets Inc. in Walnut Creek, Calif., and Network Instruments LLC in Minneapolis, he added.

Netasyst is based on technology that's used in the Sniffer product line, Thompson said. But the new offering will be sold as software, whereas most of the Sniffer products are appliances that include both software and dedicated hardware.

Another distinction between the two technologies is that Netasyst won't work on Gigabit Ethernet networks or over WANs, Thompson said.

Netasyst Network Analyzer

* Starts at $1,395 for management tools that can pinpoint the root causes of network problems on 10/100 Ethernet LANs but don't include Network Associates' Expert Analysis technology.

* Includes five other product offerings, with a high-end version that provides the Expert Analysis capabilities, supports both wired and wireless LANs and costs $6,590.

* Network Associates said all six versions include one year of free product support.

Copyright Computerworld Inc. Sep 1, 2003

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