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IBM blade slashes security threat
Takes aim at viruses and denial of service attacks

By Colin Barker

Published: Thursday 04 September 2008

IBM has launched a blade server that is specifically designed to deal with security issues.

The company said that while many different blades are designed specifically to help with certain IT issues — such as blades designed for storage — the BladeCenter PN41 is one of the first designed specifically to deal with with security problems. It is also first blade server to use deep packet inspection software from CloudShield, the network services management and security company, IBM said.

The IBM blade aims to reduce security threats, such as viruses and denial-of-service attacks, by performing real-time analysis of network activity so malicious traffic can be diverted. It can also help telecommunications carriers better manage and prioritise network activity like video sharing and web traffic, IBM said in a statement.

The server is part of IBM's Telecom Integrated Solution for Security (TISS), a hardware, software and services package. Along with the BladeCenter PN41, the main components of TISS are IBM Proventia Intrusion Prevention and IBM Tivoli Security Operations Manager.

As well as supporting CloudShield software, the BladeCenter PN41 will also support applications from Check Point, the security software company, IBM said. According to Michael Anderson, head of America security services at Check Point, it has already shown accelerated performance of security applications.

"By combining IBM hardware with Check Point acceleration technologies, such as SecureXL and CoreXL, high-end carriers and datacentres can increase the number of customer connections they can handle," Anderson said in a statement.

IBM has released no details on prices yet, but said the blade will be available in October.