NetScaler Founder Launches New SSL VPN Firm

NeoAccel debuted this week at the RSA Conference in San Francisco and announced plans to operate under an indirect sales model. Susai is the company's CEO.

The San Francisco-based vendor already has inked an OEM deal with CipherOptics, a solution provider in Raleigh, N.C.

"It is our plan to go 100 percent through the channel," Susai said. "As we grow, we want to be as VAR-oriented as possible."

According to Susai, NeoAccel will build its channel around a flagship product named SSL VPN-Plus. Based on patent-pending Intelligent Connection Acceleration Architecture, the tool is designed to enable channel partners to deliver secure access to applications with LAN-like performance without the complexities associated with IPSec VPNs.

The technology establishes a single TCP connection from a client to a gateway, and it works to eliminate the TCP-over-TCP meltdown and context-switching problems that historically hinder performance and scalability of convention SSL VPNs.

SSL VPN tools have been known to drop sessions and cause an inconsistent user experience.

"Our technology enables users to almost completely eliminate packet loss of any kind," Susai said. He added that the SSL VPN-Plus tool also is optimized for wireless environments.

The NeoAccel technology differs significantly from the Request Switching technology that Susai developed at NetScaler. There, tools accelerated application delivery by splitting a standard TCP connection into multiple transmissions. With NeoAccel, the connection is singular, and inherently more secure, he said.

NeoAccel's first product line delivers SSL VPN-Plus on three families of hardware platforms: one for small- and midsize businesses, one for small-office/home-office customers, and one for enterprises. Pricing starts at $500 for the lower-end devices and goes up to $15,000 for the high-end tools.