New components of UUNet's virtual private network services include the UUsecure dial edition, a fully managed service that is available now, said officials at UUNet, the Internet division of MCI WorldCom Inc. based in Fairfax, Va.
UUNet last week also introduced its VPN Vendor Alliance Program, in which UUNet will work jointly with other VPN vendors to test, certify, and co- market equipment and services.
Before being certified for the program, UUNet will test a vendor's equipment for function ality, performance, cost-effectiveness and compatibility with UUNet's network, said Skip Taylor, director of product marketing for dial VPNs and remote access at UUNet.
UUNet will also test the equipment's performance with select applications, including high-demand applications such as enterprise resource planning and e-mail, Taylor said.
UUNet also launched its UUsecure dial edition service as a complement to the previously available UUsecure direct edition. The dial option of the UUNet VPN service is based on the Extranet Contivity Switch made by Nortel Networks Corp., of Brampton, Ontario.
The dial edition can be accessed from 2,000 local points of presence located throughout North America, Europe and Asia.
Usage rates for the dial-up VPN service will mirror UUNet's charges for its UUdial Corporate service, plus equipment charges and the cost of a dedicated link from a company's headquarters or main site to the UUNet IP network, Taylor said.
In the first quarter of next year, UUNet will augment its VPN services with the introduction of a UUsecure VPN total access edition, which will offer customers a combination of dedicated access using Xedia Corp. equipment and dial-up access using the Nortel Extranet Contivity platform.
Also slated for next quarter are DSL (digital subscriber line) and ISDN access to VPNs as well as an integrated client software package that will feature IPSec (IP Security) and a global phone number database using PAL (Phone Access Look-up).
