Riverbed ties McAfee firewall into appliances

McAfee is offering its firewall protection for Riverbed appliances

Wide area network (WAN) optimisation specialist Riverbed Technology has signed a deal with McAfee to provide security software for its network appliances.

The companies said that the agreement would allow McAfee firewall software to be offered as a web service on all Riverbed Steelhead appliances up to the 2050 models.

Riverbed director of product marketing Nik Rouda said that the aim was to offer companies a way to include basic security protection on Steelhead WAN deployments.

Companies often configure dozens of the appliances for use in various branch offices, and the addition of McAfee's firewall will allow firms to easily add the same basic firewall protection for all branch office users.

"For customers, having it on a single appliance reduces their total cost of ownership, reduces their risk and reduces their hardware requirements," Rouda told V3.co.uk.

Like the rest of the WAN appliance, the firewall systems in branch offices can also be centrally managed by administrators from the main office.

McAfee director of global strategic alliances David Colodny told V3.co.uk that the installations would be compatible with the McAfee Firewall Control Center administration tool.

"We are trying to make this simpler for the folks out in the branch office too," he said.