Now <em>this</em> is interesting: Microsoft and Cisco are hooking up and exchanging some network-protection DNA. Microsoft mentioned their Network Access Protection (NAP, a somewhat unfortunate acronym) at their worldwide partner conference in July; now MS is pushing the release of NAP back to Longhorn Server in order to integrate support for Cisco’s Network Access Control (NAC). This interview with Windows GM Bob Kelly says that MS and Cisco will work to ensure that NAP and NAC are fully interoperable, which is great news; since NAC is already shipping, it would have been counterproductive for MS to complete their own, incompatible, solution and make customers choose between them.
Cisco’s PR has a bit more information; MS and Cisco will develop and share APIs so that NAC and NAP can share enforcement information (e.g. so a device blocked by one will be blocked by the other). According to the PR, “Cisco is giving Microsoft a license to evaluate the Cisco NAC wire protocol for use as part of the Microsoft quarantine system, and Microsoft is giving Cisco a license to evaluate the Microsoft NAP client and server APIs as a way to build interoperability into future versions of Cisco NAC.” We’ll have to wait to see what fruit this collaboration bears, but it certainly seems to be a step in the right direction.
Paul's Down-Home Page 