Being responsible for security in a university computer science department is no fun at all. And I explain: It is often the case that I get a request for installation of new hw systems or software systems that are really so experimental that I would not dare put them even in the DMZ. If I can avoid it and force an installation in a restricted inside VLAN that is fine but occasionally I get requests that need access to the outside world. And actually it makes sense to have such systems have access to the world for testing purposes.

Here is the latest request: A newly developed system that uses SIP is in the final stages of development. This system will enable communication with outside users (that is its purpose and the research proposal), actually hospital patients not so well aware of technology. So it makes sense to open it to the rest of the world. What I am looking for is anyone who has experience with dealing with such highly experimental systems that need wide outside network access. How do you secure the rest of the network and systems from this security nightmare without hindering research? Is placement in the DMZ enough? Any extra precautions? Any other options, methodologies?