Technologies

Technologies: Open Source

Mercurion Systems is proud to include a number of prominent open source software (OSS) packages in our list of recommended and supported products. These innovative, community-driven solutions offer Mercurion’s customers new and cost-effective ways to add security, flexibility, and scalability to their network.

Some of the key open source technologies and platforms that Mercurion Systems recommends, supports, and implements include:

GNU/Linux: The GNU/Linux operating system (OS) is well-suited for many applications, including fundamental network services such as DNS, firewalling, routing, and HTTP and FTP services, among others. GNU/Linux forms one foundation for solutions built using various OSS components.
OpenBSD: Well-reknowned for outstanding security “out of the box,” OpenBSD is a second foundation for solutions built with various OSS components. OpenBSD is particularly suitable for security-conscious projects. For complete information on OpenBSD, visit the OpenBSD web site.
Apache: The Apache web server drives thousands of web sites on the Internet today, and is widely recognized for its flexibility and security. Apache can also serve as a proxy server as well as a web server, adding security to existing web server installations. For more information, visit the Apache Software Foundation web site.
OpenSSH: Originally designed as a secure replacement for Telnet, SSH (Secure Shell) has become much more than just secure telnet. As implemented in OpenSSH, SSH can be used to gain secure console access to a GNU/Linux system (or similar). SSH can also be used to create encrypted tunnels, like a traditional VPN, in which other traffic can be encapsulated.
OpenSSL: The OpenSSL project provides an SSL/TLS toolkit that supplies cryptographic functions and libraries for a number of other open source projects, including OpenSSH, Apache, Stunnel, and others. OpenSSL is available for both Linux and Unix-like platforms as well as 32-bit Windows.
Stunnel: Designed to leverage the encryption routines built into OpenSSL, Stunnel provides a way whereby traffic can be encapsulated inside SSL (Secure Sockets Layer). Stunnel is used to add SSL support to client or server applications that don’t normally support SSL. By virtue of its ability to wrap traffic in SSL, Stunnel can also be used in much the same manner as a traditional VPN.
Squid: The Squid web cache offers not only enhanced Internet performance by caching frequently requested web pages locally, but related Squid projects can also offer content filtering as well. Organizations can use this functionality to ensure that inappropriate or offensive material is not being accessed.
Postfix: The Postfix message transfer agent (MTA) is a scalable, secure alternative to the traditional Sendmail MTA, and offers great potential for customers looking for a low-cost, no-frills mail server as well as those seeking to add another layer of protection to e-mail systems built with proprietary systems such as Microsoft Exchange.

Of course, this list doesn’t do justice to the vast array of open source software projects available to businesses today. For just about any need your business has, a solution can be crafted using key open source software projects. Even for primarily Windows-based networks, there are places where adding one or more open source packages can add real value.

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Technologies: Open Source

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