Policy Server Integrated with 3Com Routers

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 03/14/08

LineSider Technologies, which publishes policy-based network infrastructure control and management software, has launched OverDrive, a policy server that integrates with 3Com Open Services Networking (3Com OSN) for MSR Series Multi-Service Routers. The OverDrive software lets users deploy and manage Internet protocol-based services across complex network environments.

OverDrive software controls and manages deployed network services and devices through business-level policies. By integrating OverDrive with 3Com OSN, users can virtualize their networks to simplify the management of infrastructure services.

"Businesses today must deploy increasingly complex, multi-service IP infrastructure on a limited budget with a finite number of support personnel," said Harley Stowell, CEO of LineSider. "OverDrive technology on 3Com's OSN gives [users] the ability to easily manage their network services with fewer support personnel and can reduce operational costs..."

GMH Communities Trust, a specialty housing company that provides off-campus housing for college students as well as off-base housing for military personnel and their families, has implemented OverDrive as a network access control platform. The company will leverage the integration of the OverDrive suite with Microsoft Active Directory (AD) and give administrators the ability to control users' access to defined network resources through AD and OverDrive policies.

"We are pleased that the two companies have integrated the policy-based control and management capabilities of the OverDrive solution directly into the 3Com infrastructure devices," said Tom Christopoulos, a systems architect for GMH. "This collaborative effort will make it easier for us to manage our network.... Additionally, the multi-service capabilities of the 3Com platform allow us to use fewer...devices across the network, which significantly reduces energy consumption and costs."