IRVING, Texas -- NEC America, Inc. (NEC) today announced the general availability of its VPN Accelerator, the BlueFire IX2010vpn. Utilizing a high performance hardware based encryption engine, it provides high throughput and low latency Virtual Private Network (VPN) termination for main offices that need to connect multiple branch and remote user VPNs. The IX2010 is available immediately from NEC's authorized BlueFire dealers. As part of NEC's Business Anywhere initiative, the IX2010, along with the IX5003 high density central site WAN router and IX1035 branch office router, allows a business to take advantage of the security and cost savings available with private VPN services. In addition, the IX2010 supports advanced Quality of Service (QoS) capabilities that prioritize delay-sensitive voice traffic, maintaining voice quality while providing the efficiency and cost benefit of a single network connection. "Companies today need to be certain that their mission-critical communications with branch offices and remote workers are secure while maintaining cost efficiency," said Shane Hashimoto, vice president and general manager for NEC America's IP Network Division (IPND). "The BlueFire IX2010 VPN Accelerator allows efficient termination of multiple branch and remote worker VPN connections in a single high performance platform. When deployed with our IX5003 high density access router, our customers can enjoy reliable, secure, high quality communications with all their remote business locations." The BlueFire IX2010 supports IP Security (IPsec), providing packet-by-packet encryption and authentication. "Earlier this year we introduced the BlueFire IX1035, a branch office solution that employs hardware-based IPSec because it assures maximum performance," said John Stafford, assistant general manager of IPND. "The IX2010 is an excellent central-site complement offering the enhanced hardware-based IPSec capabilities organizations need when supporting multiple branch office and remote users. NEC BlueFire Access Solutions are based on open standards, so they integrate easily into existing networks."NEC America Inc.