Article Featuring ONS appearing in the following publications

• Inside Government-Aug-2005
• Limerick Post
• Computers in Business
• Limerick Leader June 05
• ElectricNews.Net
• The Marketing News Directory

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State of the art firewall used to protect broadband networks

E-Net, the operator of the Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs) on behalf of the Irish Government, has chosen the SonicWALL Security Solution to protect its internal technical and administrational infrastructural systems from all hostile influences from the internet. The Security System was installed by ONS; the Limerick based computer network services company, which works with E-Net on maintaining its computer systems.

According to ONS' Managing Director, Paul O'Connor, SonicWALL was chosen based on proven quality, flexible configuration options and the ability to provide remote, secure access for engineers on the road. He says, "The straightforward, easy to manage, nature of the SonicWALL solution was a decisive factor over other competitive solutions. We installed the solution in August and have since then encountered no issues or downtime."

ONS' IT Consultant, Brendan Gray, explained their decision to select SonicWALL as ONS' preferred firewall product. "The SonicWALL range of products is highly regarded for its reliability and performance and we see this on a daily basis amongst our clients."

"We like the ability to incorporate additional features such as the integrated Content Filtering along with Anti-virus solutions such as Gateway Anti-Virus (iGAV). Further security features such as Intrusion Prevention Service (IPS) can also be installed adding to peace of mind for all concerned," he added.

Pat Dillon, Operations Manager with E-Net, welcomes the solution. "We were very happy to accept ONS' recommendation to install the SonicWALL Pro 2040 solution currently implemented, and will look to SonicWALL and ONS when upgrading the existing system."

"In particular, given the nature of our rollout across the regions, having secure remote access is of vital importance to our field engineers," he stressed.

E-Net, the Limerick based company which is managing the MANs on behalf of the Government has taken over the first 20 and is looking forward to the extension of the infrastructure to 100 other centres across the country over the next 18 months.

A key concern for E-Net was the ability to maintain and protect its core systems and the company worked with local Limerick IT systems integration company, ONS Limited, to identify and install the best-of-breed integrated business security solution.

The SonicWALL PRO 2040, part of SonicWALL's PRO Series Internet Security Platform, provides complete business continuity for even the most complex networks. Powered by SonicWALL's next-generation SonicOS operating system and powerful deep packet inspection architecture, the PRO 2040 delivers enterprise-class firewall throughput and VPN concentration. Unbeatable price/performance characteristics make the PRO 2040 the ideal solution for companies that need rock solid network protection coupled with fast, secure VPN access for remote employees.

Justin Owens, Managing Director of Commtech, the exclusive distributor of SonicWALL in Ireland, acknowledges the powerful protection offered by SonicWALL. 'The SonicWALL suite of products offers comprehensive security on an easily manageable appliance. ONS, through its years of experience with the SonicWALL range, is one of our most knowledgeable resellers in the region. We are delighted to be able to provide a solution to such a high profile customer as E-Net'

E-Net is keen to build on its secure beginnings and are considering upgrading to the Pro 4060 High Availability option. According to ONS, the upgrade will bring many benefits. "The Pro 2040 may be retained for Disaster Recovery but the newer Pro 4060 would offer greater bandwidth and VPN throughput. The SonicWall 4060 High Availability solution incorporates full hardware failover redundancy."

Update to this Press Release

A Sonicwall 4060 High Availability Solution was installed & commissioned by ONS in E-Net's Network Operations Centre in May 2005.

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