NetMAX Customer Stories

MìLogic Relies on NetMAX VPN Server Suite™ to Deliver Managed Security Services

MìLogic discovers NetMAX product can be up and running in less than a few hours

Situation:

MìLogic, Inc. is a startup managed security services firm marketing to the Mid-Atlantic region. The company's mission is to provide centrally managed communication solutions that deliver secure and cost-effective Internet connectivity to small- and mid-size enterprises, especially those with multiple office sites or telecommuters. To develop its services platform, MìLogic needed to identify security software that was platform-agnostic and that could be customized to suit its clients' varied requirements.

Background:

Network security is especially vital to businesses utilizing a broadband Internet connection. An effective firewall and virtual private network (VPN) is a necessity for preventing Denial of Service and other intrusive attacks, and for safeguarding confidential information. Companies such as MìLogic provide a valuable service to firms without an IT manager or to businesses that have limited IT resources. By supplying reliable managed security services, MìLogic shoulders the burden of ensuring site-to-site and remote access security – key issues in industries such as healthcare and banking, which have new Federal data transmission security requirements outlined by the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Patriot Act.

“High-speed Internet connectivity is almost a requirement for doing business in today's economic climate,” noted David Miller, MìLogic's founder. “For small companies, designing a usable and cost-effective security solution for an always-on connection can be difficult if they can't afford an IT manager with Wide Area Network (WAN) expertise. That's our marketing niche.”

Solution:

Dennis Zeigler, MìLogic's chief engineer, recalled that the company initially tested seven Linux-based firewall/VPN products a year ago before selecting the NetMAX VPN Server Suite 3.2.

“We had multiple selection criteria,” he explained. “For example, we needed to easily customize the software. But one of the biggest issues for MìLogic was the pricing structure. Some software vendors require additional licensing fees for an increased number of users, and we didn't want that to be our concern. We don't want to worry about per user licenses – and we don't have to with the NetMAX product.”

Ziegler added that MiLogic solutions are based on carrier-independent and standards based products. NetMAX adheres most closely to the standard Linux distribution. “This made it easier for us to add the custom applications we wanted for our customers. Also, the NetMAX firewalling interface is excellent; its capabilities are beyond anything else I've seen on the market.”

MìLogic recently volunteered their years of experience in testing telecommunication management solutions and served as a beta tester for the NetMAX VPN Server Suite 4.0, which features a faster, more efficient and more secure network stack resulting from a move to the Linux 2.4 kernel series. The addition of stateful inspection allows for much simpler and secure firewall configurations. NetMAX also now fulfills the needs of a broader customer base, including Windows® 2000, Macintosh AppleShare and Linux users.

“We needed to resolve several issues with the early beta version of NetMAX 4.0,” Ziegler noted, “specifically issues with NetMAX's unique directory structure. But by working with Cybernet Systems' responsive engineers, we quickly found solutions. When the final beta version of NetMAX 4.0 arrived, we had it completely installed on our system in less than two hours.”

With NetMAX's ease of installation, use and configuration, MìLogic has found a product it can rapidly tailor and deploy for its customers…and one it knows will be reliable. “We can't afford to put something out there that doesn't work,” Miller noted. “Reliability is key in our business.”

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