Less appliance reliance

It's probably no surprise to you that those of us who test products for a living get a lot of calls and letters from companies that would like us to feature their products. After all, getting a favorable review in InfoWorld can sell a lot of products (judging by the way some approach the process, it may also cure hunger, promote world peace, eliminate wrinkles, and give you minty fresh breath). The most earnest have a comment that they think will close the deal: "And, it's an appliance!"

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Clearly, the word is out that delivering a security appliance is a big deal ‑ and in some cases, it is. The right security appliance, with the right software, intuitive management, and stable operation, can provide a company with a much-needed capability, whether it's intrusion detection or packet examination.

To hear the pitches about enterprise appliances, whether they're aimed at security or load balancing or storage, you'd think that all you need to do is plug them into the wall, attach an Ethernet connection, and punch the power switch.

The fact is that appliances like this don't exist. At the very minimum, you must configure any appliance to work with your network, and you must administer it. Even appliances that are largely autonomous and deliver information to you via e-mail or pager still require some administration, if only to perform updates and to tell the appliances about changes in your network.

Plus, the appliance that perfectly fits your needs is unlikely to be just like the rest of the devices on your network. This means that you'll need to administer it separately and you may need specific training on the appliance. And this is all assuming that the appliance does exactly what the vendor says it will do, excels in its operations, and is more capable than software designed to run on a general-purpose platform.

In reality, most of the appliances we've seen in the Test Center lately are just general-purpose Intel platforms running Linux and some sort of security application. Usually, the version of Linux you get is modified to make it more secure ‑ but usually not in a way beyond what you could do yourself if you know Linux fairly well. In other words, what you usually get in a security appliance is a Linux application bundled with hardware.

Does this mean that you shouldn't consider an appliance for your next security solution? Not at all. What it means is that there's nothing magical about getting an application as an appliance. The same factors apply as they do when you buy any application: The product should do what you need, it should be easy to administer, it should be stable, and it shouldn't add any new security problems to your network. And, of course, it should do what the vendor says it will do. Just like any other application.