What’s New in Altor VF 3.0

The latest generation of virtualization security from Altor Networks sets a new standard of protection and productivity for virtualized data centers. Altor VF 3.0 provides security and performance innovations that are only available from Altor. More importantly, it delivers new customer benefits that can substantially increase the value of an enterprise’s or service provider’s investment in virtualization:

  • Greater Defense-in-Depth: new security layers include integrated virtual aware IDS and hypervisor protection
  • Higher Virtualization ROI: an order of magnitude increase in host server bandwidth and the ability to increase the number of VMs per host improves the economics of virtualization
  • Enterprise Class Reliability & Scalability: high availability and a new programming interface for automating provisioning makes it possible to virtualize mission critical systems and secure virtualized cloud services efficiently

New Features and Benefits in Altor VF include:


Breakthrough Performance via Hypervisor Integration

  • Altor VF is the only virtual firewall that uses VMsafe Fast-Path technology to deliver over 10 times the throughput of last generation firewalls. As a module in the hypervisor kernel, Altor VF optimizes packet processing to achieve 10Gbps performance. In contrast, older virtual firewalls - running in bridge mode as guest VMs - typically provide no more than 1Gbps of throughput. Having 10 times as much bandwidth available substantially increases the average number of VMs a host server can support, amplifying the financial benefits of virtualization. VMsafe integration also reduces operating complexity and eliminates Cisco vSwitch reconfigurations.

Complete VM Segmentation via Virtual Switch Integration

  • The Altor VF kernel module integrates into the virtual switch within the hypervisor, extending the switching function to incorporate security operations. This tight integration enables Altor VF to analyze every packet to or from each VM, allowing complete segmentation of VMs without requiring re-configuration of networks, VLANs, or hypervisor clusters.

Fully Integrated IDS

  • Altor VF now provides state-of-the-art, virtual aware intrusion detection integrated with firewall protection. Policies, alerts, and reports now include IDS as well as firewall components, enabling coordinated, per-VM enforcement of both security layers. VM-specific IDS scanning can greatly reduce server overhead in comparison with scanning traffic at the server or VLAN level. It also improves regulatory compliance and audit support. Enterprise class signature updates are delivered by Altor Networks.

Cisco Nexus 1000V Support

  • By integrating via the VMsafe APIs, Altor VF plugs into the virtual switching path seamlessly without requiring re-configuration of the virtual network. This allows Altor VF to operate with standard vSwitches and Distributed vSwitches. This tight integration also allows Altor VF to secure Cisco Nexus 1000V distributed vSwitches without effecting the virtual network structure or centralized Cisco management.

High Availability Security & Management

  • Altor VF now provides enterprise grade, high availability administration and policy enforcement. Using redundant system components, the primary management server will fail over to a shadow server while preserving all logs and transaction records and maintaining uninterrupted protection. Deployment of Altor VF high availability is highly automated, literally as simple as checking a box and clicking a few buttons. Altor HA enables secure virtualization of workloads that require the highest level of reliability from all critical components of the IT infrastructure.

Hypervisor Monitoring and Protection

  • The Altor VF kernel module now uses VMsafe APIs to monitor & store all network connections to the hypervisor. Running in a privileged mode allows Altor to block attacks and other unauthorized connection attempts from VMs, providing a valuable layer of protection for both the hypervisor and the security module itself. Altor VF is the only solution available that provides this critical security enhancement.

Cloud Security API for Provisioning Automation

  • Altor VF now provides a programming interface that lets service providers and large enterprises customize and automate virtual firewall and IDS provisioning. In-house developers can align the process of setting up, configuring, and deploying Altor security with their existing process for provisioning IT services. At the same time, they can minimize the number of manual steps in the security provisioning process. The new Altor VF virtual security API helps turn visions of cloud-based virtualized services into reality.