14 DAY TRIAL // Crossbeam Systems began shipping a massive chassis-style, UTM (unified threat management) system with an open Linux distribution at its base. The company's Linux based operating system, "XOS", runs on the X-Series UTM server, and targets highly scalable firewalls and security applications for large data centers and service providers.
The company claims that the XOS Linux implementation is capable of unifying the resources from a maximum of 100 separate processing cores, spread out over up to 14 blades, this way letting the administrators to fine-tune available resources for optimal processing of specific individual traffic streams.
There are three X-Series models: a half-size 7-slot X45, a full 14-slot X40, and a 14-slot X80 model with optional 48-volt power supply. Each chassis can have different mixes of control, application and data processing blades to achieve the desired performance. The application processing blades can be configured to provide services like firewalling, content filtering, intrusion detection, XML transformations etc.
The X-Series devices can be managed through a web browser interface served up by the control module. The interface can offer a virtual representation of the system. XOS is described as a "hardened" version of Linux, and it can run from a disk or flash. It uses a proprietary interprocess communications protocol, X-Stream.
Data centers, with the help of the "8600" blades from Crossbeam, can integrate mixes of Layer 2 transparent and Layer 3 proxied or terminating applications. The RAID-mirrored on-board storage is very good for content and other Web-based applications that need local-box and off-box network storage. The low latency, of only fifty microseconds, is the adequate one for Voice over IP application processing. Firewalls, VPNs, content filtering, malware scanning are some of the things supported by the X-Series 8600 blades.
"Crossbeam continues to provide the only open, enterprise-class security platform." stated Crossbeam Systems Marketing Vice-President, Throop Wilder.