Symantec Offers Appliance Update

The Symantec Gateway Security (SGS) 5400 series, the second generation of a firewall appliance first introduced in February 2002, is a scalable solution featuring advanced security options that can be turned on according to customers' needs, said Howard Lev, group product manager at Symantec.

In addition to the firewall and antivirus protection offered in the first version, the new version also features IPsec-compliant VPN, intrusion detection and prevention, content filtering and antispam capabilities, all of which are potential upsell opportunities, Lev said. "The solution provider can lowball [a price] and go back and sell the features to the customer," he said.

The SGS 5400 series also features a Web-based Security Gateway Management Interface that enables the solution provider or customer to monitor a small number of appliances at once, Lev said. For monitoring larger groups or clusters, an optional Advanced Manager, which can manage hundreds of appliances at once and enables centralized management and reporting, is available, he said.

Symantec offers three versions of the appliance. The SGS 5240 features 200-Mbps throughput and six 10/100 Ethernet ports, and ranges from $4,000 to $28,000, depending on options. The 5440 features 1.5-Gbps throughput and six Gigabit Ethernet ports, and ranges from $9,000 to $46,000, depending on options. The 5640 features 1.8-Gbps throughput and eight Gigabit Ethernet ports, and ranges from $14,000 to $51,000, depending on options. Each product comes with one year of Gold Maintenance service.

Solution providers applauded the product's licensing options. "[This version of SGS] has more flexible licensing, and the fact that we can go in and turn on certain options according to customers' needs really makes it suitable for all kinds of customers," said Jeff Wankel, security consultant at Meridian IT Solutions, Schaumberg, Ill.