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NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: NEAL WEINBERG on
PRODUCT REVIEWS 01/15/02 Today's focus: NetScreen Global Pro 3 Dear Wincenty Kaminski, In this issue: * NetScreen firewall management suite offers strong policy- based security * Links related to Network World product reviews * Featured reader resource _______________________________________________________________ This newsletter sponsored by Mangosoft Secure Internet File Service-white paper Mangomind provides a secure, easy way for geographically dispersed workgroups to access, store, and share business documents without a VPN. Files are protected end-to-end by 128- bit encryption, user authentication and file access controls. Mangomind is a true Windows Internet file service and operates like a shared network Drive. Info and free trial at http://nww1.com/go/3808311a.html _______________________________________________________________ Only the best products debut at DEMO. February 10-12, 2002 * Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs Resort * Phoenix, Arizona DEMO introduces the products forecast to shape the marketplace and market trends in the coming year. Top analysts, developers, executives, venture backers and journalists gather to experience the best products and connect with technology's elite at this hands-on event. Visit http://www.idgconferences.com/demo/brochurenw1.pdf or http://www.idgconferences.com/demo/nw1 to register _______________________________________________________________ Today's focus: NetScreen Global Pro 3 By Neal Weinberg The Reviewmeister has been looking for a good tool to manage multiple firewalls, so we checked out NetScreen's revamped Global Pro 3.0 management suite. Released in November, Global Pro 3.0 takes network executives out of the tedious position of managing individual firewalls, and moves them into the realm of policy-based security management. Before now, NetScreen had fallen behind competitors such as Check Point, Avaya and Nokia because it didn't offer centralized policy-based configuration. Global Pro 3.0 comes in two flavors. The Express version, which we evaluated, can manage up to 100 devices. This version lacks some of the aggregate reporting tools available in the higher end full version, which scales up to 10,000 devices, sports an Oracle database back-end and offers some fault tolerance. For the Global Pro Express 3.0, you get quite a bit of management machinery for $6,000. It comes standard on a dedicated Sun server with a 500-MHz Sun Netra T-1 processor with 512M bytes of RAM. To install Global Pro Express 3.0, hook up a terminal and give it an IP address. The management server comes pre-built with a firewall and can be placed anywhere inside your network. Management is controlled from any Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 2000 system. The Management Server has a small Web server installed, largely to feed Windows the Java-based management graphical user interface that communicates with the management server. Security policies are key to Global Pro 3.0. There are 13 types of security policies, ranging from the prosaic (such as where to send SYSLOG messages) to the critical (such as what traffic gets in and what traffic does not). Policies are defined using a simple interface and can then be applied to as many firewalls or firewall groups as you'd like. We defined a policy listing all our corporate mail servers and stating that the Internet could connect to our corporate mail servers, but only for the purpose of sending us mail. The beautiful thing about NetScreen's policy-based management is that if a new firewall is added into one of the groups already attached to the policy, Global Pro 3.0 automatically builds a policy for it that includes all the policies for that group. The same is true of changes to the policy. If a new mail server is added, all it takes is a push to all firewalls to make them aware of the change in policy. Features like real-time monitoring and alerting are built into the product, as is a powerful set of delegated management functions. With the ability to partition the management function across multiple servers, NetScreen's architecture looks as if it can scale to thousands of firewalls. Global Pro 3.0 could go a lot further in showing the big picture of your network, however. Global Pro 3.0 has a summary report that gives you a partial view of the enterprise firewall configuration, but the report was not as complete as we wanted. NetScreen still has some work to do on Global Pro. Still, it's an outstanding first effort and NetScreen clearly has strong insight into the way network executives want to handle policy- based security management. For the full report, go to http://www.nwfusion.com/reviews/2002/0107rev2.html _______________________________________________________________ To contact Neal Weinberg: Neal Weinberg is features editor at Network World, in charge of product reviews, Buyer's Guides, technology primers, how-tos, issue-oriented feature stories and the Technology Insider series. You can reach him at mailto:nweinber@nww.com. _______________________________________________________________ Get your wireless service from the carrier ranked #1 by Forbes magazine. Now get Unlimited Night & Weekend Minutes, plus up to $165 in savings when you activate on select calling plans and purchase a Nokia 3360 or 8260 from AT&T Wireless. To learn more go to http://nww1.com/go/ad207.html _______________________________________________________________ RELATED EDITORIAL LINKS Review: NetScreen-500 firewall/VPN appliance Network World, 07/16/01 http://www.nwfusion.com/reviews/2001/0716rev.html NetScreen automates VPN policy mgmt. Network World, 11/12/01 http://www.nwfusion.com/archive/2001/127359_11-12-2001.html The archive for Reviews is: http://www.nwfusion.com/reviews/index.html _______________________________________________________________ FEATURED READER RESOURCE Network World Fusion's Net.Worker site Whether your company is growing larger or scaling back, corporate managers are looking for ways to cut costs while retaining and recruiting star employees. One smart solution - at least on paper - is to let some employees work from home. Network World's Net.Worker Web site bridges the gap between the telework concept and the hardware, software and services needed to make it happen. We bring you news and reviews, sound advice and keen insight into the technologies and solutions you need to manage a remote and mobile workforce. Visit http://www.nwfusion.com/net.worker/index.html _______________________________________________________________ May We Send You a Free Print Subscription? You've got the technology snapshot of your choice delivered at your fingertips each day. Now, extend your knowledge by receiving 51 FREE issues to our print publication. Apply today at http://www.nwwsubscribe.com/nl _______________________________________________________________ SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES To subscribe or unsubscribe to any Network World e-mail newsletters, go to: http://www.nwwsubscribe.com/news/scripts/notprinteditnews.asp To unsubscribe from promotional e-mail go to: http://www.nwwsubscribe.com/ep To change your e-mail address, go to: http://www.nwwsubscribe.com/news/scripts/changeemail.asp Subscription questions? Contact Customer Service by replying to this message. Have editorial comments? Write Jeff Caruso, Newsletter Editor, at: mailto:jcaruso@nww.com For advertising information, write Jamie Kalbach, Director of Online Sales, at: mailto:jkalbach@nww.com Copyright Network World, Inc., 2002 ------------------------ This message was sent to: vkamins@enron.com
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