VPN

VPN RFP Lab Eval: Final Thoughts

We present a side-by-side comparison of the results of our lab tests of VPN solutions from three vendors: NetScreen, RapidStream, and SonicWALL, and we ask that you vote to choose the best.

by Lisa Phifer VP Core Competence, Inc. [January 4, 2002]

In 2Q01, ISP-Planet issued an RFP for VPN appliances suitable for ISP deployment to broadband-enabled businesses with 10 to 200 employees. We invited 40 vendors to reply, using RFP responses to thin the crowd. The top four—NetScreen, RapidStream, Rebel.com, and SonicWALL—were then asked to submit their solutions to our lab.

In mid-July, Rebel became a dot.com casualty, further narrowing the field.

We forged ahead, publishing in-depth lab evaluations of the top three proposals:

Except where noted (‡), proposed solutions were evaluated in our lab in 3Q01, using products shipping at that time. After testing started, a few next generation hardware and software upgrades were released. For currency, we have updated this chart to reflect products shipping as of December, 2001 [see ISP-Planet VPN RFP Series: Product Upgrades].

To conclude our VPN series, this article provides a side-by-side comparison of these three solutions. We summarize how these offerings stack up against each other, highlighting features that impressed us and those we found lacking. In the end, we let you—ISP-Planet's readers—vote for the series winner.

Increasing Revenue By Delivering Managed Security
Our RFP outlined requirements for IPRVnet, a fictitious ISP providing dialup, dedicated, and broadband Internet access to SMBs. Our objective: To broaden this ISP's portfolio by offering value-added services like Secure Broadband Internet, Secure Intranet, Secure Remote Access, and add-ons like as anti-virus, content scanning, and intrusion detection. These fully-managed services were to be provisioned and monitored 24/7 from the ISP's NOC.

To facilitate direct comparison, we decided to focus on CPE appliances rather than software firewalls or central-office switches.

Because ISPs must satisfy a wide variety of SMB customers, we used three example customers to illustrate IPRVnet's target market. Vendor-proposed solutions (updated to reflect December 2001 products and prices) are summarized below.