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CLEAR CHOICE TEST: NETWORK ACCESS CONTROL
We test 12 solid products; each with its own variation on a theme
CLEAR CHOICE TEST
Despite the fact that network access control hasn't yet lived up to its initial promise, NAC Js very much alive, as evidenced by the fact that 12 vendors participated in our NAC test, including industry leaders Microsoft. HP, Juniper, McAfee, Symantec and Alcatel Lucent.
We tested each product on the key pieces of any full-strength NAC solution: authentication, access control enforcement and endpoint security posture checking. We found 12 great products that were so different in the way they accomplished NAC that it was impossible lo do a head-to-head comparison.
We did find products that fell into similar buckets. For example, if you were thinking of buying ForeScout CounterACT, you should also be looking at Trustwave NAC. If you were considering Avenda eTIPS, you definitely want to take a look at Juniper UAC.
Other products worked best if you already have that vendor's gear. HP ProCurve Identity Driven Manager is a great solution - but it really only works well in an HP environment. If you already have Symantec Endpoint Protection suite, you'll find its NAC solution a fantastic complement. The same is true with McAfee.
If you're looking for products not tied to specific hardware, the list includes Avenda eTIPS. Bradford Network Sentry, ForeScouf CounterACT, Microsoft NAP and Trustwave NAC.
And you could certainly make good use of Juniper UAC or Enterasys NAC without any Juniper or Euterasys equipment in your network. Even Cisco's NAC Appliance and Alcatel-Lucent's Safe NAC could work with non-Cisco and non-Alcatel-Lucent switches.
We don't have a final answer on NAC. The product lines are growing and maturing, and many of the hard parts of NAC are moving into infrastructure, including switches, routers and user operating systems.
But you will always need other pieces to make your NAC solution complete - endpoint device profiling, policy management systems, and captive portals are all important parts of a NAC solution that you won't find built into your favorite switch or operating system.
To help you determine which NAC product is right for you. we sliced and diced our test results two ways - by product and by feature. In...