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REDMOND, WASH When it ships next month, Microsoft's Windows 2000 will come with technology for setting up an IP Security-based virtual private network (VPN). The question is: Will established VPN products from other vendors work with Microsoft's technology?
It appears that the answer will be a grudging "yes' "Many VPN vendors have ardently opposed Microsoft's implementation, complaining it adds data overhead and slows down transaction processing. But these same companies, such as Check Point Software and Newbridge Networks, acknowledge that they can't afford to ignore that hundreds of thousands of desktops will probably end up running Microsoft's new software.
Microsoft's IPSec "flavor," jointly developed with Cisco, combines Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol (L2TP) with IPSec encryption in order to support non-IP protocols and authentication mechanisms attractive to companies conducting business-to-business e-commerce. Until fairly recently, it was unclear whether Microsoft would actually be able to squeeze the VPN features into Win 2000.
Now that Microsoft is readying Win 2000 for a Feb. 17 general release, VPN vendors are scrambling to add support for L2'TP/IPSec to their offerings.
Newbridge, for instance,
will upgrade its TimeStep Permit VPN...