ComBrio Virtual Service Infrastructure (VSI)

ComBrio's Virtual Service Infrastructure (VSI) is a two piece platform aimed primarily at organizations and/or technicians that offer remote services and the enterprise organizations or environments that those providers/technicians serve. The platform facilitates connectivity between the remote service provider and the organization, allowing the provider to manage and monitor the devices of the Enterprise customer's network.

A key feature of VSI is its support for connectivity via a single outbound port in the firewall (443). The SSL-based connectivity platform therefore requires no VPN or modem access to the target devices, and requires no specifically opened inbound ports in the corporate firewall. Monitoring communications are protected via 128-bit SSL encryption, while management tasks for the target devices benefit from 256-bit AES encryption.

VSI consists of two primary product suites: VSI Service Delivery, and VSI Service Control.

VSI Service Delivery is the suite deployed by the service provider, facilitating the connection between them and their Enterprise customers. VSI Service Delivery itself consists of three components:

- VSIadministrator, which serves as the central repository for the status of all monitored devices, as well as houses the rules/policies for the establishment of "Directed Circuits," the encrypted device-to-person connections that enable service personnel to manage the Enterprise devices

- VSImanager, which receives the Directed Circuits from remote locations

- VSIgateway, a hardware component that is deployed at the Enterprise site. This device collects and aggregates the status of monitored devices and delivers the information to the VSIadministrator at the service provider's location. The VSIgateway initiates the Directed Circuits via an outbound SSL port.

The VSI Service Control component is targeted for use by the Enterprise customer themselves, and allows them to control the types of remote service connections that are allowed to their devices. Consisting of the single component VSIenterprise, VSI Service Control features the ability of the end customer to grant access permissions either on an individual or policy-basis; as well as provides an audit trail for all service provider activities. Other features of VSIenterprise include a "circuit breaker" function to immediately terminate all remote connections; reporting based on device, time and authorization; and support for per-device access rights.

Other features of the platform include E-mail notifications for session initiation and termination; device monitoring by IP or DNS name; scalability to 20,000 devices; and browser-based interfaces.

A new product in the vendor's arsenal--VSI Automation and Control--is specifically targeted to industrial automation and process control environments. VSI Automation and Control is especially tuned to allow the remote access and management of SCADA elements including Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs), Distributed Control Systems (DCS), and Master Control Units (MCO).

VSI is available now. Contact ComBrio for further information.