SonicWall Brings Next Generation Unified Threat Management to the SMB Market. - NSA 240, A Closer Look:
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Normally, a device that integrates as many
features as the NSA 240 would be complex to manage. SonicWall strives
to reduce the complexity by offering a single management interface for
all of the products features. In other words, the management of every
feature can be done from a single browser session and each management
screen has a common look and feel. That proves to be important to
administrators new to UTM and helps to speed deployment by solution
providers and integrators. SonicWall goes one-step further down the
ease-of-use path by providing a significant number of setup and
management wizards. Administrators will find those wizards intuitive
and will help to speed deployment and reduce errors.
The NSA
240 is well constructed and well labeled. All of the ports are located
on the back of the unit and each is labeled clearly. The unit features
three Gigabit Interfaces and six FastEtherent interfaces. With the
popularity of gigabit Ethernet growing, SonicWall should consider
upgrading all ports on the unit to Gigabit speeds.
On
the front, the unit offers LEDs for the status of each port, giving
critical information at a glance. A nice addition would be an LCD
status panel that would show alerts, loads and status. Otherwise, the
metal construction of the unit and the diminutive power-brick give an
indication of overall high quality.
For
processing oomph, the NSA 240 relies on a dual core architecture, when
combined with the firmware’s “proxy-less” deep packet inspection offers
impressive throughput speeds that should not introduce latency and
jitter into network and VOIP communications.
Worth
noting is SonicWall’s RFDPI technology, which is able to deep scan
packets in real-time, without introducing the need to disassemble and
reassemble a packet for analysis. For high volume networks, that style
of packet inspection offers many advantages over the traditional
proxy-based packet disassembly packet scans, which add milliseconds to
packet
transmissions.
SonicWall
puts no limits on the number of users attached to the NSA 240 and
although the unit is designed for the SMB and branch office markets,
the unit has the power to serve dozens of users without breaking a
sweat.
Out
of the box, the NSA 240 supports as many as 25 concurrent VPN sessions
and is upgradable to 50 site-to-site VPN connections. Other options
include Content Filtering Services, Gateway AV/SPY/IPS &
Application Firewall, Comprehensive Gateway Security Suite and a
Stateful HA & Expansion Upgrade. Most buyers will want to go with
the Comprehensive Gateway Security Suite and bundle all of the options
together for the best out-of-the-box protection. SonicWall offers a
“Total Secure” version of the unit, which includes a year’s worth of
Gateway Anti-Virus, Anti-Spyware and Intrusion Prevention Service,
Content Filtering Service (Premium Edition) and 24x7 Support. The
“Total Secure” bundle may prove to be the most economical choice for
most sites.
Administrators
have the ability to define policies, both comprehensive and individual,
for the security services offered by the unit. Policy definition is
made very simple by the intuitive interface and wizard based
administration tools. The NSA 240 is priced at $1,195 and the NSA 240
Total Secure is priced $1,770.
Solution
providers will appreciate the integration opportunities offered by the
NSA 240 and the product's ability to make the new world of Web-based
applications much safer for small businesses. The product's VPN support
is a big plus for branch office deployments, where dedicated
site-to-site VPNs can be set up to incorporate a branch office back
into a
corporate headquarters.
