Castle Rock Adds Secure Network Management Capabilities
SARATOGA, CA, June 19, 2001, Castle Rock Computing announces support
for secure management in Release
5.1 of the SNMPc Distributed Network Manager. SNMPc 5.1 implements Version 3 of the Simple Network Management
Protocol (SNMP) to provide MD5 or SHA Authentication and DES Encryption
to any SNMP V3 enabled device. Authenticated access ensures that
only trusted personnel can configure devices over a public or other
unsecured network. DES Encryption extends the utility of SNMP for
Server and Database management by enabling private access to sensitive
information.
SNMPc is a distributed multi-user system that can manage very
large networks. In release 5.1, these capabilities are further
enhanced with Restricted User Views. Each SNMPc user can now be
restricted to view only a subset of the SNMPc topology maps, event
logs, and WEB Trend Reports. This feature simplifies management
and monitoring of multiple network domains.
Many companies use SNMPc to provide outsourced network management
services. These companies manage devices at customer sites over
the Internet or other public networks. Typically this service is
limited to monitoring and trend analysis because the end-user does
not want to allow configuration capabilities from outside of its
own company. Management service consultants can now use SNMPc 5.1
to provide full configuration capabilities and without compromising
the end-user network.
A likely application for SNMPc 5.1 is managing cable modem installations.
Cable modems can be configured for "quality of service" parameters
and they can store performance, error and diagnostic information.
Remote access of this information allows the cable ISP to provide
better customer service at a lower cost. But a cable modem network
is inherently insecure because the home users all share the same
LAN. These issues are specifically addressed by the DOCSIS cable
modem specification, which requires SNMP Version 3 support for
secure and private access.
SNMPc 5.1 will be available in August and runs under Windows 2000,
NT, ME, and '98. Pricing starts at $995 for the standalone Workgroup
Edition and $2995 for the multi-user Enterprise Edition. A free
upgrade is available for SNMPc users who have a current maintenance
contract. Castle Rock Computing was established in 1987 to exclusively
develop products for the network management field. More than 100,000
copies of SNMPc have been sold over the last ten years.
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