Joining Forces / Technology / Solutions / MSFT & RH?

When I first learned that ISA Server was going to be deprecated, I was mindful of the - literally - thousands of builds I was aware of just across the government offices that heavily leveraged a simple (to me anyway) but awesome intrusion detection / prevention / profiling server core - the bits of which I had a blast playing with. 

Threat Management Gateway - 2010 - threw most that were not in the know, quite the curve ball - as we now see ISA Server taking on a new suit for a new party on the information highway MSFT paves quite broadly these days. Alas, we get UAG (Unified Access Gateway) 2010 as well, and the dawning of it's 'final' name - ForeFront Identity Manager (FIM/FFIM) - from MIIS, ILM, to FIM, alas - we have another fun set of bits to chew on - federated identity management - the MSFT way.

While I was enjoying a few engagements where my passion is well known enough for the technology I play with, I was also withering a bit because I knew the death of ISA/TMG was on the forefront - no pun intended - but I did not know about the present (ref: https://t.co/lpxzx862SP - thank you SG) announcement of Red Hat and MSFT paving a relationship - that, well, answers more than a few questions - for me.

For the customer? I'll ask you... What can 'you' envision doing now with intrusion detection/prevention solutions, when Linux is in the mix, and MSFT is rubber stamping every bit of every nibble, of every byte? Well, much remains to be seen of this newly announced relationship - but I beg your patience as it'll be quite subtle I'm sure, any acknowledgement of software/OS-based IDS/IPS platforms being tossed out there to replace TMG. In no wise am I implying such a thing now... But imagine the possibilities!

One of my favorite all-time movies, Spy Game, Robert Redford and Brad Pitt, is still one of my all-time favorites, because I guess I'd like to fancy that, knowing my father retired as a contractor for the CIA after a decade of dozens of engagements as just an analyst for them, that there are some awesome twist and turns that come of such an agency and the marriage of Red Hat and MSFT? Correction - Microsoft and Red Hat! - well, my hat's off to MSFT.

Just imagine the possibilities... In the end... I'm just another Geek in Need. Visit Evening Cup with M.J. Hamilton some time... I may explore more.