Founded in 1992, the Austin, Texas-based Ashley Laurent Inc. specializes in broadband solutions. Over the past few years the company has become a leader in the broadband networking, security, and delivery markets, with customers such as 3Com and CheckPoint Software.

Ashley Laurent's VPN offering is a part of its BroadWay Integrated Services Software (ISS). This is a collection of integrated services and applications designed for service providers and broadband hardware manufacturers.

The VPN component is part of the BroadWay Engines, which also offer a firewall, content filtering, a DHCP client and server, several variations on a PPP protocol, and virus scanning. The BroadWay Engines are offered as a PC/desktop solution, an embedded component (for manufacturers who do want it hard-coded into the hardware), or can be licensed separately, depending on the needs of the user, which is ideal for service providers). Additionally, the components in the BroadWay Engines are set up to be remotely updated, without any disruption of service to the user or manufacturer.

The VPN software itself is very flexible, supporting different types of authentication and most, if not all, of the leading VPN standards. Using the latest in cryptography, the BroadWay VPN is compatible with the leading embedded and desktop operating systems and chipsets. The VPN has also been certified by the VPN Consortium, a governing body in the VPN field.

Ashley Laurent can be contacted by email at [email protected], by telephone at (512) 322-0676, or by fax at (512) 322-0680. Additional contact information can be found on their Web site.