2006 Products Of The Year

SECURITY SOFTWARE
Astaro Security Gateway

Security appliances have almost become a dime a dozen. Yet, among the array of contenders on the market, one product managed to stand out in 2006, the Security Gateway series from Astaro.

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What separates Astaro from the pack is that the appliance isn't really an appliance, it's a virtual appliance. By going the virtual route, Astaro allows partners to offer all of the benefits of an integrated appliance yet eliminate the need for proprietary hardware. How does the Burlington, Mass., company accomplish this lofty goal? By using virtual machine technology from VMware, which makes the full name of the product Astaro Security Gateway for VMware.

The security software is optimized to run a VMware virtual machine, and the company has migrated its appliance-specific operating system (a security-hardened version of Linux) and software over to a virtual hard drive (VHD).

The benefits of virtualization are many. Administrators can make the appliance portable because the VHD can be copied to another system. That lends itself to handling backup and disaster-recovery chores; administrators can keep copies of the virtual appliance off-site. Better yet, both chores can be converted into services VARs can offer, providing the opportunity for an additional revenue stream.

Other benefits include offering the VAR better control over upgrades. For example, an increase in hard-drive capacity entails little more than expanding the VHD, while performance can be increased by simply moving the VHD to a faster machine. Smaller sites can use the product on an existing server by creating a virtual machine on that server and installing Astaro's gateway.

Solution providers will find a stateful packet inspection firewall, proxy server, VPN and intrusion-protection features. Antispyware, content filtering, antivirus and antispam options are also available for the product, allowing solution providers to craft customized security solutions according to their clients' needs.

Pricing is based on active users and concurrent connections. Configurations for as few as 10 users to unlimited users and connections are available. Suggested pricing for a sample configuration allowing 250 active users and 512,000 connections, including subscriptions and one year of maintenance, is $11,885.

Astaro sells more than 90 percent of its products through its base of about 300 solution providers. Certified partners have access to a dedicated Web portal, beta-testing programs, MDFs and more; Authorized partners have an annual minimum sales requirement of $2,500; Preferred partners have a sales commitment of $50,000; and Premier partners focus on enterprise accounts and have a yearly sales goal of $200,000. Astaro also offers free training and certification, promotional spifs, lead generation and free demo units.

-- Frank J. Ohlhorst