PALO ALTO, Calif., June 26, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pica8, a leading provider of advanced, open networking software for enterprise campus and access networks, today announced enhanced capabilities for PICOS®, the company’s flagship Linux-based network operating system. Effective immediately, PICOS supports a range of leading industry NAC solutions, including Aruba ClearPass and Cisco ISE as well as the open-source software NAC project, PacketFence. These new integrations address two critical challenges facing today’s enterprise access networks: efficiency and security.
In most enterprise networks, dealing with BYOD security issues and IOT deployments are now daily realities. As a result, having centralized policy-based access control for all access ports in the network has become the foundation of an effective network security defense. PICOS’s new ability to interoperate with existing NAC solutions allows fully automated network access policy enforcement in an open networking deployment for the first time. This automation drastically improves the operational efficiency while also providing a simplified user experience and an improved security posture for the network. As NAC ecosystems evolve to add even more security features, such as intrusion detection, these PICOS integrations will accelerate the deployment of effective orchestrated security response and enhanced threat protection.
“As Pica8 exclusively targets the retail and branch office access network and distributed enterprise campus network markets, building in comprehensive NAC support was a key solution requirement for PICOS as there’s no requirement for NAC in the world of data center open networks,” said Jeff Paine, SVP of Marketing for Pica8. “The reality of our market is that as we automate, simplify, and modernize access networks during this long-overdue technology refresh cycle, most of our customers already have existing NAC systems in place and it is incumbent upon us to integrate with them. Now we do.”
Having previously announced support for the Dell EMC N3132PX-ON 2.5G/5G Multigig PoE switch in October 2018, Pica8 is further building on that success by adding PICOS availability for ISE and ClearPass. This switch, as well as all of the open networking switches listing on Pica8’s hardware compatibility list, supports the Open Network Install Environment (ONIE) standard that allows PICOS to easily load onto the platforms for deployment. Additionally, PICOS support is now automatically included with the Packetfence 9.0 software release, further easing integration for enterprise network administrators.
As existing network infrastructure continues to age and becomes outdated, enterprises are rapidly refreshing their old access networks. For these companies, PICOS not only offers a commercially proven modern replacement for their vast numbers of legacy switches, but offers a replacement that is fully capable of integrating with their current NAC solutions, giving them access-level granularity, improved security, and reduced cost, and lowered operational complexity.
About Pica8
Pica8 was first to market with a modern, disaggregated open networking alternative to tightly coupled legacy Ethernet switches when it released its Linux-based network operating system (NOS), PICOS, running on a wide variety white box and brite box ODM switches. Today, with over 1,000 customers in 40+ countries, Pica8 – also the inventor of Open Intent-Based Networking -- is the leading provider of highly automated, intelligent access-edge and campus open networking solutions for large global enterprise networks. These solutions can be ordered directly from Pica8 or through a variety of other global partners. For more information, visit www.pica8.com, email us at sales@pica8.com, or follow us on LinkedIn or on Twitter @pica8.
Media Contacts:
Holly Hagerman, Connect Marketing – (801) 368-6928
Jeff Paine, SVP Marketing, Pica8 – (650) 575-4037