* Astaro Security Gateway 525
Astaro is coming out with a big new security gateway that performs VPN and firewall gateway functions, as well as a slew of other filtering features.
The company says its Astaro Security Gateway 525 falls into the category of a unified threat management appliance, and they are right. In addition to firewalling and securing Internet tunnels, the device also filters e-mails for viruses, spam and phishing, blocks spyware, filters URLs and detects attacks directed against specific applications.
This type of device is what a lot of firewall/VPNs are evolving to, but Astaro is different. While the company sells appliances, it also sells its software separately to be run on a range of standard server hardware. The Security Gateway 525 sports dual processors and can be fitted with an optional acceleration card to keep down delay that can result when running multiple security functions simultaneously.
The device is made for speed, with the company claiming it has more than 3Gbps firewall protection. The device can come with 10 ports of Gigabit Ethernet with six of those ports supporting fiber interfaces available in one model. The device is also made for reliability, with two disk drives and two power supplies.
The device costs $20,000 or $22,000, depending on whether it has the more expensive fiber ports.
Customers who are thinking about this type of gateway might want to consider Astaro because it offers free use of the gateway software for 30 days. That should be enough time to make an informed decision. You can download the 30-day trial at the Astaro Web site.
