Zyxel Aims UTM Appliance at Midmarket Business

Zyxel Communications has introduced a new unified threat management appliance to round out its portfolio, giving solution providers the opportunity to reach larger midmarket customers with increased throughput for better network performance, according to Zyxel.

"When all security services are enabled, the UTM throughput can be a bottleneck," says Shawn Rogers, product marketing manager at Zyxel. "The USG2000 uses SecuASIC technology - a dedicated hardware accelerator for security services like IDP and AntiVirus to provide best in class throughput with all the services turned on."

In essence, Zyxel's USG2000 appliance uses two processors—one chip to handle the firewall, and another to handle the anti-virus and IDP functionality, Rogers says. This offers the highest throughput of any device in its class, he says, with up to 400M-bps speed. "We've taken this bottleneck out," he says.

The solution also includes an IP Security VPN and an SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) VPN. The USG2000 is the latest addition to Zyxel's USG line of UTM appliances, following the 100, 200, 300 and 1000. The company says the line can give solution providers the flexibility to serve customers of all sizes.

"We have a complete product line for UTM," Rogers says. "The USG 100, 200, 300 and 1000 can offer scale for as few as 10 users all the way up to 200." With the USG2000, Zyxel solution providers can reach customers with up to 500 users on the network, opening up greater opportunities with larger business customers.

Since the interface and feature set is identical across all USG models, it's simple for solution providers to upgrade customers to a higher-end product without needing additional training, says Rogers. Although the interface and features are the same, the "horsepower" and the number of VPN tunnels supported increase with each larger model number, Rogers says.
Rogers says Zyxel's solution providers have incredible advantages even in a difficult economy. Solution providers can offer Zyxel's security services such as IDP, antivirus and content filtering for customers to use risk-free for 30 days, placing them in a much stronger position to sell the products after customers experience the performance and security of the products.

In addition, a five-year warranty and free firmware upgrades for the life of the appliance product ensure that customers' deployments will be supported if problems occur, he says. Customers can also choose between two free anti-virus options: either an option from Kaspersky Lab or a Zyxel-branded, ICSA Labs-certified solution.

"There are no per-user or per-node fees, and no per-IPSec VPN fees, which makes it easier for solution providers to price and quote solutions," Rogers says. "This simplifies the sales process and shortens the sales cycle, as well as making us much more affordable than competitors."

There are also opportunities for solution providers to use Zyxel's UTM line to deliver managed security services to customers, says Rogers. The inclusion of Vantage reporting software allows MSPs (managed service providers) to remotely monitor and manage deployments, and offers the option to customize and self-brand reports.

SEMs (Security Enhancement Modules) allow MSPs to add features and functionality as their customer bases grow, and Vantage CSM software can allow MSPs visibility into large firewall deployments by grouping them into a single, integrated view, Rogers says.

"All these features make it very easy for MSPs who haven't done much in the security space or for solution providers that want to offer managed services to quickly offer them for their customers," he says.