Enterprise network managers are looking to virtualize more data center resources, but they hesitate when it comes to security. They want the resource sharing and hardware consolidation that virtualization offers but aren't willing to risk compromising security.

So, to meet security demands they set up racks and racks of appliances and network gear (such as load balancers) to handle firewall, antivirus, antispam, IDS, IPS, content filtering and other security tasks. As network traffic grows and strains the performance of the systems, IT meets the rising demand by adding more appliances, load balancers, switches and cabling, as well as redundant hardware to ensure the necessary reliability.

The resulting appliance sprawl results in a chaotic architecture that is increasingly difficult and expensive to manage and maintain, and a security nightmare waiting to happen.

The critical requirements for enterprise security are superior application performance, ultra-low latency, massive scalability, ultra-high reliability, and low total cost of ownership. While best-of-breed appliance platforms have become the solution of choice, they fail to deliver massive scalability. Sprawling networks of hardware, cables and traffic-control gear provide an enterprise-sized security solution, but at the cost of complexity.

They also fail to meet performance requirements in the form of low latency and high reliability, and total cost of ownership goes through the roof. Unified threat management devices "unify" security applications by bringing together acquired technologies into a single solution, but users must sacrifice best-of-breed choice in exchange for ease of management, a risk that large enterprises are unwilling to accept.

So, what is the alternative to appliance sprawl and low-end unified boxes? An ideal solution would deliver key operational, technical and economic benefits, including:

* Consolidation of appliance computing resources and the network gear required to connect them.

* Real virtualization capabilities that dramatically improve resource utilization.

* True "linear scalability," enabling efficient growth for existing applications as well as the ability to add new ones.

* Support for multiple, best-in-class third-party applications for all major security areas, including firewall, intrusion detection and prevention and content gateways.