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Aventail Smart Tunneling Outperforms Cisco IPSec and SSL VPN in Performance Lab Test

Testing Proves Aventail's Smart SSL VPN Can Replace IPSec VPNs for All Remote Access

Aventail's patent-pending Smart Tunneling delivers twice the performance of Cisco's WebVPN and IPSec VPN products, according to recent throughput testing. The Aventail SSL VPN was significantly faster in all but one of the tests, which compared file transfer times for the download and upload of 1MB and 50MB files. For example, the Aventail VPN transferred a 50 Megabyte FTP file in 13.62 seconds, compared with 304 seconds for the Cisco WebVPN and 37 seconds for the Cisco IPSec VPN.

These tests also validate Aventail's claim that its SSL VPN can replace IPSec VPNs for all remote access scenarios, whether from a home PC, cafe hotspot, Internet kiosk, or behind a firewall at a client premise. Aventail recently re-launched its IPSec replacement campaign, which runs through September 30, 2005, following a successful first phase of the campaign. Customers have already replaced products from Cisco, Nortel, Juniper, Watchguard, Sonicwall, Novell, Symantec, Secure Computing, and others, with the Aventail Smart SSL VPN.

"It was clear that our current IPSec solution was not able to provide the secure, flexible and scalable remote access solution we needed, and after extensive testing, we ultimately chose the Aventail SSL VPN as our core remote access platform," said Tim Collins, Director of Security for ATI Technologies, Inc. "With Aventail, we have the ability to provide our employees and partners access to all resources from any location, with granular access control and complete security."

ATI is rolling out the Aventail solution as part of a worldwide deployment for employee access and disaster recovery, which will ultimately serve up to 5,000 concurrent users. ATI Technologies, Inc. is a world leader in the supply of graphics, video and multimedia products for desktop, workstation and notebook PCs, digital televisions, cell phones and game consoles.

"In addition to ease of use and increased productivity, one of the most important operations for users in remote access situations is simply moving data, and it makes a big difference for the user in how fast or slow that operation is," explained Randy Boroughs, senior director of product management, Aventail. "With Smart Tunneling, Aventail's SSL VPN not only provides superior ease of use, manageability, and universal application reach, but it also meets or exceeds the performance of leading IPSec VPN solutions, thereby eliminating the traditional advantages of an IPSec-based tunneling solution."

Aventail Smart Tunneling is a Layer 3 tunnel with Layers 4 through 7 policy control, enabling a full IP network tunnel to be created over SSL. Smart Tunneling technology combines the power of SSL, which includes NAT and firewall traversal, granular policy control, and granular access control, with the performance and application reach of IPSec. Smart Tunneling includes Bidirectional Tunnel Control, which secures all tunnel traffic between the end device and application and any reverse connection back out to the end user. Bidirectional control is vital for applications like VoIP and remote helpdesk support.

Methodology and Results

The performance tests were completed in a lab environment by Aventail engineers and can be duplicated based on the methodology used. The tests compared transfer times for the download and upload of 1MB and 50MB files, using both FTP and native Windows copy, between client and server systems on a dedicated network with no other application processes or gateways.

                                               Transfer times (in seconds)

                   FTP             FTP           Windows        Windows
                 Download         Upload         Download        Upload
             --------------  --------------  --------------  --------------

 Product       1 MB   50 MB    1 MB   50 MB    1 MB   50 MB    1 MB   50 MB
             ------  ------  ------  ------  ------  ------  ------  ------
Aventail
 EX-750
 SSL VPN
 with Smart
 Tunneling     0.63   21.47    0.50   16.66    1.82   52.82    0.56   19.33
             ------  ------  ------  ------  ------  ------  ------  ------
Aventail
 EX-1500
 SSL VPN
 with Smart
 Tunneling     0.69   22.52    0.42   13.62    1.44   58.79    0.78   23.44
             ------  ------  ------  ------  ------  ------  ------  ------
Cisco
 WebVPN
 3005          9.69  317.53    9.26  304.58       *       *       *       *
             ------  ------  ------  ------  ------  ------  ------  ------
Cisco
 IPSec VPN
 Client        1.20   39.15    1.12   37.10    1.58   38.58    1.35    38.8
             ------  ------  ------  ------  ------  ------  ------  ------
                                * Transfer times too slow to be comparable

About Aventail

Aventail is the leading SSL VPN product company and the authority on secure application access technology. Aventail delivered the first SSL VPN solution in 1997, and today, Aventail meets the secure communication needs of more than one million end users in over 75 countries. Aventail's family of SSL VPN appliances increases productivity for end users and IT professionals, while maximizing security and lowering costs. Aventail appliances are built on Aventail's proven platform, which leads the industry in End Point Control, policy management, and transparent, easy-to-use access options to the broadest range of applications. Aventail is the SSL VPN of choice among leading enterprises and service providers worldwide, such as AT&T, DuPont, IBM Global Services, MCI, Netifice, Office Depot, Sanyo, and TNT. Headquartered in Seattle, Washington, Aventail has an extensive global network of channel partners and sales support offices. For more information, go to www.aventail.com.

Aventail, Aventail ASAP, Aventail Smart SSL VPN, Aventail EX-1500, Aventail EX-750, Aventail OnDemand, Aventail Smart Tunneling, and their respective logos are trademarks, registered trademarks, or service marks of Aventail Corporation. Other product and company names mentioned are the property of their respective owners and are mentioned for identification purposes only.

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