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CHECK POINT SOFTWARE ANNOUNCES FLOODGATE -1 BANDWIDTH MANAGEMENT SOLUTION

Uniquely Enables Policy-based Enterprise Traffic Management To Ensure Performance of Mission-Critical Traffic Without "Starving" Other Applications

REDWOOD CITY, CALIF., – September 22, 1997 – Further extending its proven expertise in delivering policy-based enterprise management solutions, Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq: CHKPF) today announced the flagship product of its new Enterprise Traffic Management product line, Check PointTM FloodGate-1TM. Based on the Stateful Inspection technology patented and invented by Check Point, FloodGate-1 enables organizations to define and manage enterprise-wide policies that precisely control valuable bandwidth resources, optimize network performance and alleviate network congestion.

A core component of Check Point's overall strategy to address the convergence of network security and traffic management (see separate release), the FloodGate-1 policy-based bandwidth management solution is the only product in the industry that enables users to define enterprise-wide traffic management policies that actively allocate bandwidth for in-bound and out-bound traffic based on relative merit or importance to all other managed traffic. FloodGate-1 uniquely ensures the performance of mission-critical and other high-priority applications without "starving out" lower priority applications.

"Network congestion caused by bandwidth-intensive applications such as multimedia and push technologies is crippling the Internet-centric business model in use at many organizations today," said Deborah Triant, president and CEO of Check Point Software Technologies, Inc. "Chasing the problem with more bandwidth does not address the root problem of resource control and allocation. FloodGate-1 leverages our Stateful Inspection technology to alleviate congestion right where it is created--at network access points. With FloodGate-1, organizations can achieve the optimum network performance essential for maintaining productivity in today's global business environment."

FloodGate-1 allows organizations to dynamically control traffic on congested Internet/Intranet links by managing network traffic at an aggregate level to deliver reliable performance for critical applications and users. An enterprise-wide traffic management policy manages all inbound and outbound IP-based traffic by applying user-defined rules to control bandwidth usage for entire classes of traffic, not just individual connections. FloodGate-1's powerful, real-time traffic monitoring capabilities diagnose the source of network congestion to help the network manager set the appropriate policy and ensure the availability of critical services.

Core Technology Elements: Stateful Inspection and the IQ Engine

FloodGate-1 extends Check Point's proven expertise in policy-based management by leveraging the capabilities of the company's patented Stateful Inspection technology to provide accurate and highly efficient traffic inspection. Similar to the Check PointTM FireWall-1 enterprise security solution, FloodGate-1 uses the INSPECTTM Virtual Machine, a core component of Check Point's Stateful Inspection technology, to screen and intercept all communications attempts below the network layer. The INSPECT Virtual Machine then extracts and maintains extensive state-related information on each communication and passes this information to the FloodGate-1 Intelligent Queuing (IQ) Engine.

The IQ EngineTM is a revolutionary new technology invented by Check Point which enables organizations to define highly granular levels of traffic classification, queuing, and scheduling by dynamically controlling entire classes of traffic, not just individual connections. Using an enhanced, hierarchical Weighted Fair Queuing (WFQ) algorithm, the IQ Engine intelligently and actively allocates available bandwidth for specified Internet services, users, groups, or designated network resources at an aggregate level. The preemptive traffic scheduler within the IQ Engine ensures that high priority inbound traffic is always given precedence over lower priority data.

In addition to bandwidth limits and guarantees, the IQ Engine prioritizes traffic based on weighted priorities to ensure that even low priority traffic receives some bandwidth on a consistent basis. FloodGate-1 is the only bandwidth management solution available today that allows the network manager to prioritize traffic based on its importance relative to other traffic on the line, ensuring that users experience fast response time for mission-critical applications without crippling less important applications. Competing bandwidth management solutions only allow allocation by limits and guarantees, which "starves" out the lower priority traffic competing for bandwidth.

Enterprise Traffic Management

FloodGate-1 can be deployed as a stand-alone traffic management solution or can be used in concert with FireWall-1 on the same system. Because FloodGate-1 and FireWall-1 share a similar architecture and many core technology components, customers can utilize the same user-defined network objects in both solutions, enabling easier policy definition, system configuration and close integration of an organization's security and traffic management policies. Both products can also share state table information which provides efficient traffic inspection and enhanced product performance. FloodGate-1's tight integration with FireWall-1 provides the unique ability to enable users deploying the solutions in tandem to define bandwidth allocation rules for encrypted and network-address-translated traffic.

Supporting data rates of up to 10 Mbps, FloodGate-1 improves quality of service by eliminating the burst-and-delay effect inherent in most Internet traffic. Comprehensive logging capabilities provide detailed log information to show the allocation of bandwidth by user, application and connection.

Array of Policy Setting Mechanisms

Rules are established for traffic control via a combination of traffic classifications and bandwidth control criteria. Network managers can classify traffic on the basis of Internet service or application (HTTP, FTP, Telnet, BackWeb), source, destination, group of users, groups of Internet services, Internet resource (ex. URL), and traffic direction—inbound or outbound. FloodGate-1 even allows network managers to classify traffic by a specific channel within a "push" application. Once traffic is accurately classified, FloodGate-1 applies one or more control criteria to actively manage bandwidth allocation. These criteria can be used alone or in concert to define powerful and flexible bandwidth management policies. Control criteria categories include:

  • Weights—Allocates bandwidth for users and Internet services based on designated merit or importance. The weight assigned to a particular class of traffic is proportionate to the weights of all other managed traffic.
  • Guarantees—Provides guaranteed bandwidth for critical applications or designated users and groups.
  • Limits—Sets bandwidth restrictions for discretionary network services or user applications which are not time sensitive.

Three-Tier Client/Server Architecture

FloodGate-1 employs a three-tier client/server architecture similar to FireWall-1 which supports the ability to define and distribute an enterprise wide policy to all network access points. FloodGate-1 consists of three components, all of which can run on a single platform or be distributed across multiple workstations and servers for maximum flexibility. These components include:

  • FloodGate-1 GUI—The policy editor, a Java-based application, can run on a variety of platforms and is used to create and modify the traffic management policy and define the network objects.
  • FloodGate-1 Management Server—Controls and distributes the traffic policy to all FloodGate-1 modules.
  • FloodGate-1 Module—Implements the traffic management policy at network access points and controls the flow of inbound and outbound traffic.

Pricing and Availability

FloodGate-1 for Sun Solaris (FloodGate-1 Module and Management Server) with the FloodGate-1 Management GUI for Microsoft Windows 95 and Windows NT will be available through all Check Point distribution channels during the fourth quarter of 1997. Versions of FloodGate-1 for Windows NT and other UNIX versions will be available in the first quarter of 1998. FloodGate-1 pricing begins at $4,995 for dial up lines up to 256K, $9,995 for T1 and E1 lines and $18,990 for 10Mbps.

About Check Point Software Technologies Ltd.

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. is a leading provider of policy-based enterprise security and traffic management solutions. Through its patented Stateful Inspection technology, the company is uniquely positioned to deliver Secure Enterprise Connectivity solutions that protect information assets and enhance the performance of enterprise networks. Check Point offerings include the world's leading enterprise security suite, Check PointTM FireWall-1, and the industry's premier policy-based bandwidth management solution, Check Point FloodGate-1TM. The company has U.S. headquarters in Redwood City, California and international headquarters in Ramat-Gan, Israel. For product information, please visit us on the World Wide Web at http://www.checkpoint.com.

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1997 Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. Check Point, the Check Point logo, Check Point FireWall-1, FireWall-1, SecuRemote, FireWall-First!, OPSEC, INSPECT, FloodGate-1 and IQ Engine are trademarks or registered trademarks of Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. All other product names mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective owners.