DH2i DxOdyssey adds a layer of protection to multi-cloud

Known for providing data management and disaster recovery capabilities with its flagship DxEnterprise, DH2i is now focusing on providing ways to make those capabilities secure.

DH2i’s new DxOdyssey creates secure tunnels between hosts and servers without using a virtual private network (VPN), greatly reducing the surfaces of attack. The security software is designed to allow for quick and easy creation of those secure tunnels for any hybrid and multi-cloud environment. It doesn't require DxEnterprise to run.

DxEnterprise is DH2i's software product for delivering high availability through intelligent workload movement. Don Boxley, CEO of the company, based in Fort Collins, Colo., said over the last three years, he noticed a big increase in DxEnterprise users adopting the cloud. Securing the workloads backed up by DxEnterprise became a challenge.

"What they couldn't do was create a secure pipe between those servers," Boxley said. "Most of the time, those were inside their firewall, so they didn't need a secure tunnel. But when they went to hybrid cloud, multi-cloud, they need those tunnels."

DH2i's software provides those tunnels. DxOdyssey offers a different approach from VPNs, which are the traditional means of providing perimeter security for hybrid and multi-cloud environments. It lets a network or security administrator set fine-grained access to specific targets for remote users instead of granting them access to large areas of the network. DxOdyssey is lightweight software that integrates into existing network infrastructure, overcoming the complexity challenge of configuring VPNs.

"At its top level, it's a software-defined perimeter solution. But when you dig away at it, it does a bunch of things nobody else does," Boxley said.

At its top level, it's a software-defined perimeter solution. But when you dig away at it, it does a bunch of things nobody else does.

Boxley described potential use cases where DxOdyssey's tunnels can protect application failover infrastructure by hiding cloud instances, stopping lateral movement attacks. Even if one cloud failover instance is attacked and compromised, the bad actor would not have access to any others.

DxOdyssey will be generally available Nov. 13. It is priced at $500 a month and allows the buyer to create an unlimited number of tunnels.

Eric Hanselman, chief analyst at 451 Research, said an increase in interconnected networks has led to greater security vulnerabilities. Hanselman said this is a time of transition from the classic VPN model, and DH2i is among a handful of vendors moving beyond the perimeter approach.

"What's unique about DH2i is that they've got an environment that's already proven out in terms of it being the backbone of their existing capabilities and their workload-specific isolation features," Hanselman said. "The granularity, the scale and the fact that it's built on a proven infrastructure are the three things that I identify are unique to what they're delivering to the market."