Funk Software updates its RADIUS server to v 5.0

Cambridge, MA, Jan. 25, 2005 -- (MobileVillage) -- Funk Software today announced version 5.0 of its RADIUS/AAA server, called Steel-Belted Radius. Version 5.0 adds a completely revamped administration program and new reporting capabilities.

Steel-Belted Radius aims to help enterprises manage and secure wireless LAN, remote/VPN, and/or identity-based (wired 802.1X) networking access, and integrates into an enterprise's network infrastructure, regardless of equipment vendor or authentication scheme, according to Funk Software.

Steel-Belted Radius runs on Windows and Solaris, and is compliant with the RADIUS specification, the IEEE security standard 802.1X, and all popular WLAN protocols, including EAP-TTLS, EAP-PEAP, and EAP-TLS. It can authenticate users accessing the network against a wide variety of authentication databases, including Windows Active Directory, SQL databases, LDAP directories such as Novell's eDirectory, and token systems such as the RSA Authentication Manager.

Steel Belted Radius v5.0 is available in Enterprise and Global Enterprise Editions. New features for both include:

New administration program -- The new administration program in v5.0 adds functional enhancements as well as a new graphical user interface enabling management of hundreds or thousands of RADIUS clients including access points, switches, NAS devices, and VPN servers. The new XML-based Steel-Belted Radius Administrator can be run from any machine, not just the machine on which Steel-Belted Radius is installed, and offers an HTML- based administration program without its attendant navigation problems. The new Steel-Belted Radius Administrator can manage Steel-Belted Radius running on either XP/2000/NT or Solaris; separate programs are no longer required for each platform.

Reporting -- Steel-Belted Radius v5.0 offers several new reports, available directly from the Steel-Belted Radius Administrator, that detail statistics on user authentications, failed authentications, unknown client devices, faulty shared secrets, and temporarily disabled accounts. These new reports can eliminate the need to dig through text-based log files. They display all information spreadsheet-style and fully sortable by user name, NAS device, date, or any other variable for fast information retrieval. Report summaries and scrolling lists are other features.

Faster configuration and management -- User and device profiles can be implemented with copy-and-paste, sorting, and point-and-click drilldown capabilities, eliminating the need to build new profiles from scratch and greatly facilitating the management of large numbers of RADIUS clients or users.

Java scripting in the LDAP Authentication Plug-in -- Users can now call a Java script from within Steel-Belted Radius's LDAP authentication method, providing greater control over the authentication process.

Other new features include support for Oracle 9i, experimental support for IP v6, and support for machine authentication and password change via MS-CHAP v2 within EAP-PEAP.

Steel-Belted Radius v5.0 is available in separate versions for Windows XP/2000/NT and Solaris. Pricing for new customers is US $4,995 per server for the Enterprise Edition and $12,000 per server for the Global Enterprise Edition. For customers not covered by a current annual maintenance and support contract, the upgrade to Steel-Belted Radius/Enterprise Edition costs $1,400; to Global Enterprise Edition, $3,500.

Steel-Belted Radius is available directly from Funk Software as well as through Funk Software's partners, system integrators and VARs, and from Ingram Micro, Tech Data, TerraWave Solutions, and WAV.

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