Hotspot Blade Server uses Interlink Software

Cluster Labs GmbH of Berlin and Fremont, Calif., maker of server blades is getting into the hotspot business. The company is going to start making an appliance called Internet PassPort as a server for WISPs looking to create a hotspot business. The appliances will be powered by Interlink Network's Secure.XS Wireless LAN Security.

Secure.XS (pronounced "Secure Access") is a Linux and Windows-based solution for AAA (authentication, authorization, and accounting) using 802.1X for authentication. The Internet Passport that Cluster Labs is building will be Linux based blade server that will include a RADIUS-based WLAN hotspot controller. It will also feature an LDAP directory server, a SQL database, and the hardware to run them (hard disk and redundant power supply). The Internet Passport will come in a 19-inch enclosure.

Randy Dence, vice president of product management and marketing at Interlink says the product using Secure.XS helps it address several key issues for wireless ISPs, especially security and billing. "The WISP billing model is, well, pick one," says Dence. "Pay by the hour, pay by the Big Mac, it's as variable as paying for parking."

The two companies previously worked together when Cluster Labs, using its Internet Gatekeeper product, provided Internet access to exhibitors at CeBIT in Hannover, Germany earlier this month. The Gatekeeper provided an interface between Secure.XS's accounting and the high-speed Internet access provider for the show, Kabel Deutchland.