FireWall-1 FAQ: What is IPSO?
Please note: This content was from when I was operating my FireWall-1 FAQ site, which I stopped operating in August 2005. For some reason people still have links to this stuff on the Internet that people are still clicking on.
I am making this information available again AS IS. Given how old this information is, it is likely wildly inaccurate. I have no plans to update this information.
If you're still running versions of Check Point VPN-1/FireWall-1 where this information is still relevant to you, do yourself a favor and upgrade to a more recent release. If you happen to be running a current release and the information is useful, it's by happenstance :)
The OS that runs on the Nokia IP Security Platform is called IPSO. IPSO, which originally stood for IP Switching Operating system, began its life at a company called Ipsilon Networks. Nokia acquired Ipsilon in 1998 and now uses this OS in it IP Security products.
It is true that IPSO is based on FreeBSD, but it is now very different from FreeBSD in every respect important to running FireWall-1. There are several APIs that Nokia has added to IPSO specifically for FireWall-1. These APIs are either not present or significantly different in FreeBSD.
Nokia also has a IPSO based on Linux called IPSO-SX. This OS is used in the Nokia Message Protector product. IPSO-LX is another version of IPSO based on Linux used in the Sourcefire for Nokia offering.
