Determina's software supports only Windows servers, while Blue Lane's appliance also works with Sun Solaris systems as well as Oracle databases and the Apache open-source Web server. PatchPoint pricing starts at US$30,500. Determina's software starts at $750 for each protected server.

Pivx Solutions Inc. in Newport Beach, Calif., last week rolled out PreEmpt 2.0, another tool aimed at deferring the need for rapid patching. But instead of addressing specific exploits, the Pivx software is designed to enforce security controls on broad and frequently exploited classes of Windows vulnerabilities, such as buffer overflows.