Introducing Enhanced Security at the Edge for MSPs and Distributed Computing Environments
This is going to save me time and money.— Joe Kletch, Owner, Mulehill Networks
Earlier this year, Scale Computing introduced an all-new feature for SC//Fleet Manager that’s redefining secure remote management for edge computing deployments. Meet Secure Link, the time- and money-saving security tool that has partners talking.
With cloud-like simplicity, Secure Link allows IT administrators to oversee their edge deployments from any location, in any browser, on any device, without resorting to pricey or overly complex remote access solutions. For managed service providers (MSPs) and IT teams, SC//Fleet Manager with Secure Link eliminates the burden of maintaining VPNs at each site, allowing for speedy issue resolution with one-click access to any cluster from a single monitoring center.
SC//Fleet Manager allows users to see and manage their entire fleet at once from an intuitive cloud-based console, making it easier than ever to securely monitor and manage workloads and infrastructure across an entire edge fleet of clusters running Scale Computing HyperCore. Users can monitor connectivity and cluster health with ease. Any problems across the fleet are highlighted automatically, and if there’s an issue, IT administrators can drill down into a specific cluster to further diagnose and fix the problem.
The task of remote monitoring has been simplified with SC//Fleet Manager, but in the case of any changes being required, local, secure access is a must. Secure Link [allows] IT teams and MSPs to quickly, easily, and securely gain complete management access to all of their edge deployments. Combined with ZTP, we can now remotely initialize and configure clusters with zero access to the cluster, or even the network the cluster is on.— Joe Kletch, Owner, Mulehill Networks
Gaining remote access to a cluster can be handled in various ways, but it always requires some manual setup, both on the cluster network and on the device of the IT admin attempting access. These typically incur additional monetary and time costs (for example, paying for and setting up a VPN at each site) that may not otherwise be necessary. While these systems are designed for general network access and often provide greater levels of access to the remote network than is required to perform remote SC//HyperCore administration, they create unnecessary security exposure.
With Scale Computing’s Secure Link, IT teams and MSPs can quickly, easily, and securely access the HyperCore UI for any SC//HyperCore cluster in their global fleet. The Secure Link feature is tightly integrated with SC//Fleet Manager and ready for use out-of-the-box, eliminating the cost, complexity, and security risks associated with manual setup and maintenance of traditional remote management tools. Unlike competitor solutions that require costly and cumbersome on-cluster or VPN setup for edge computing deployments, managing workloads and infrastructure with SC//Fleet Manager is simple and secure. Businesses save time and money, with no need for administrators to set up an onsite VPN or a Jump Server for each network, or pay for an additional software license to facilitate the remote connections. SC//Fleet Manager with Secure Link also eliminates the need to install and keep updated server and client applications on devices or the jump server, meaning compute, memory, and storage resources on SC//HyperCore clusters or other devices can be reclaimed for more productive uses.
Security benefits of SC//Fleet Manager with Secure Link include:
- Removes direct network access to edge locations, with no network traffic from the edge deployment able to traverse Secure Link
- Dramatically improves control over user privileges
- Reduces the attack surface by avoiding the use of VPNs or Jump Servers
- Eliminates manual configuration and risks caused by misconfiguration or out-of-date software
- Utilizes outbound opening by the cluster, with no inbound ports required to be opened
- Automatically closes upon session closing
- Encrypts all data
- Requires dual SC//Fleet Manager and SC//HyperCore authentication to access the edge deployment
SC//Fleet Manager, including zero-touch provisioning (ZTP) and Secure Link, is priced based on the number of clusters under management. If you’re an IT admin or MSP seeking in-depth cluster management with cloud-like simplicity at the click of a button — without the need for expensive or complex remote access solutions — look no further. For more information, contact us at sales@scalecomputing.com.
Finally, your edge deployments are just a click away on any browser, on any device, anywhere.
