Iron.io Releases Enhanced Security Package – IP Whitelisting, VPN, and VPC Support

Iron.io is pleased to announce the release of an enhanced security package for our IronMQ and IronWorker platforms. This package includes access to virtual IP addresses and support for virtual private networks (VPN) and virtual private clouds (VPC).

Elastic IP Addresses (EIP) – This feature provides access to the list of virtual IP addresses that workers are running on. This access enables users to set up network whitelisting policies that permit traffic only from verified IP addresses. This is a major benefit for processing workflows that pass through firewalls and other physical or virtual boundaries.

Virtual Private Networks (VPN) – A virtual private network (VPN) lets network operators manage a variety of services and components with the public cloud but send and receive data as if it were directly connected to a private network. Users benefit from the flexibility of operating in a shared environment while simultaneously gaining all the functionality, security, and management policies of a private network. Iron.io can assist you in configuring VPNs that include IronWorker or IronMQ clusters, so that you get the best of both worlds – enhanced security and advanced event-based computing services.

Virtual Private Clouds (VPC) – IronWorker and IronMQ clusters can now be provisioned in a virtual private cloud within AWS. Users can then have traffic routed through private IPs using VPC peering. This capability provides dedicated network policies that can be customized to suit any workload or processing capability. Using a VPC provides an extended layer of isolation enhancing security while still allowing flexibility for flexible high-scale processing.

Availability of Security Package

These security features are available now for customers on Dedicated plans and the capabilities can be expanded in accordance with customer requirements. For example, for IP white listing, a set of virtual IP addresses can be provisioned based on the concurrency levels within your IronWorker plan. VPN and VPC configurations can be configured based on zone and region with AWS.

Please contact one of our account representative to discuss the features in this enhanced package or to set up an architectural review for a deeper dive.

Dedicated Clusters for Increased Workload Processing

Dedicated IronWorker clusters are recommended for customers with heavy workloads and/or stricter requirements around task execution and job latency. A ‘dedicated cluster’ means sets of workers are provisioned to run tasks on a dedicated basis for specific customers. Clusters can vary in concurrency – starting at 100 workers and extending into the thousands. The benefits include guaranteed concurrency and strict latencies on task execution.

Recommended use cases for dedicated workers include:

Push Notifications – Many media sites are using dedicated workers to send out push notifications for fast-breaking news and entertainment. These media properties have allocated a specific number of dedicated workers giving them guaranteed concurrency to handle the steady flow of notifications. The dedicated nature and easy scalability of the clusters means they’re able to meet their demanding targets for timely delivery.

Event and Stream Processing – Customers are also employing dedicated clusters to process events asynchronously in real-time or near real-time - typically for offloading tasks from their main event loop (as in the case of web or mobile apps) or processing event streams directly (as in the case of IoT applications).

Image, Audio, and Video Processing – Other customers use dedicated clusters to provide for maximum concurrency and minimal processing latency for processing large quantities of digital media files.

How to Get Started

To give Iron.io a try, sign up for a free IronWorker or IronMQ account today at Iron.io.

As a reward for signing up, we’ll even provide you with a 30-day trial of advanced features so that you can see how processing at scale will change the way you think about application development.

What are you waiting for? Simple and scalable processing awaits.