VON: Covergence downsizes IP security gear

BOSTON--Covergence introduced a smaller version of its IP edge security appliance today.

The new CXC-50 has all the security features of its larger predecessors, the 350 and 550. But it’s two inches tall instead of two rack units, and with a list price of about $6000, it’s less expensive, making it a good fit for small and medium businesses (SMBs), Covergence said.

The CXC-50 can’t handle as many sessions as the bigger gear, however. While the 350 can handle 4000 concurrent sessions per box (the higher-end 550 allows the addition of an extra 8000 sessions, and the boxes are sold in clusters to increase those numbers to a maximum 20,000 sessions per chassis), the CXC-50 handles 200 sessions per box and between 1,000 and 1,500 registered users.

Like its other products, Covergence will sell the new product both to SMBs and to carriers that manage services for them. The company has made efforts to develop partners to sell its gear to carriers but hasn’t publicly announced any such partners yet.