Enterasys, InMon Forge Traffic Management Alliance

Through a new partnership between the two vendors, InMon's Traffic Server provides a front-end interface that enables customers to tap into the traffic data collected by Enterasys routers through NetFlow, a traffic accounting protocol developed by Cisco Systems, said Mark Pearce, router product marketing manager at Enterasys, Andover, Mass.

The combination of Traffic Server and X-Pedition routers can help customers improve both network performance and security, Pearce said.

"We're auditing all of the traffic that flows across the network, and we have the capability to know who is on the network and what they are using it for," he said.

The InMon Traffic Server identifies bottlenecks that create network congestion, which are often caused by misuse of the network or malicious attacks, said Sonia Panchen, director of marketing at InMon, San Francisco.

"We take you from a guesswork situation to having specific data about who is causing a problem and what they are doing," Panchen said.

The products are not currently offered as a bundle, though channel partners can combine the two products to create bundled solutions for customers, Panchen said.

"This definitely would be a nice tool for us to have," said Amir Sohrabi, executive vice president of Managed Solutions Planning Xperts, a solution provider and Enterasys partner based in Arlington, Va. "Customers want to optimize their networks, figure out where they are bleeding--where usage is too high," Sohrabi said.

For Enterasys channel partners, InMon Traffic Server could create new service opportunities and help differentiate them from their competitors, Pearce said.

Enterasys hopes the partnership will help it nab market share from Cisco, Pearce said.

In the future, the vendor plans to incorporate some of its stand-alone security offerings--such as VPN, intrusion detection and firewall--into its routers, he said.