Hi there all,

IT is a constantly and quickly changing field, and so is IT Security. Therefore it is important for us to reach critical mass in order to continue the success we had to date.

Especially in a competitive market like firewalls, where we see consumer products moving up to the SMB market we want to provide a professional alternative to those businesses who might choose a consumer product due to cost reasons.

Since its launch, the Astaro Home Use edition has convinced a big number of IT Administrators – some claim it as the "IT Administrator’s Darling" - at home and a lot of those installations finally led to new business. Following this trend we want to expand our reach, introduce Astaro to businesses who may have never heard of us and provide people who never thought of buying Astaro with our great technology.

As we are committed to this strategy, starting today, November 16th we will offer the Astaro Security Gateway Software in the Essential Firewall edition as a free tool for business use.

The Essential Firewall edition of the Astaro Security Gateway will be the first free enterprise firewall available worldwide and provides the following features:

• Networking: Internet Router, Bridging, DNS server & proxy, DynDNS, DHCP server & relay, NTP support, automatic QoS
• Network Security: Stateful Packet Inspection Firewall & Network Address translation (DNAT/SNAT/Masquerading)
• Remote Access: PPTP and L2TP over IPSec support (including iPhone support)
• Logging/Reporting: Full logging on local hard drive, searching, real-time reports for hardware, network usage and network security, daily executive reports
• Management: Web-based GUI in local languages, setup wizard, configuration backup & restore, administrator notifications, SNMP support, centralized management via Astaro Command Center (also free of charge)

In the event an organization needs to expand the functional range of their Essential Firewall edition, they can easily upgrade to the professional edition of the Astaro Security Gateway by purchasing a valid license key.

We expect to generate a significant demand and new business by providing the Essential Firewall functionality of the Astaro Security Gateway at no cost to all companies. The Essential Firewall edition offers functionalities that are fundamental when protecting a network but does not offer all the professional features that are necessary to cope with modern threats. Out of this all, new business opportunities will result for us.

Please find all relevant information concerning the Essential Firewall edition of the Astaro Security Gateway here:

• Frequently Asked Questions
• Astaro Security Gateway Software Editions Comparison Chart
• Press Release

Essential Firewall edition registration pages

• Software Version: Astaro Essential Firewall for Business Use
• VMware Version: Astaro Essential Firewall for VMware

If you have further questions, do not hesitate to post a comment or question here.

With best regards,
Gert Hansen

I really think that this was a good idea from a reseller side for the small business. The unfortunate part is there is actually no Professional version available yet.
I am hoping that this comes out quickly. I wanted to find pricing for a customer and found out sometime next year it will be available.

Thanks

Warper, I had interpreted the "Professional" version as the ASG software we know today. Is there something I don't know?

Cheers - Bob
PS Of course, there are a gazillion things I don't know!

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Hi Bob and Warper,

this is correct, as we had no 'editions' before, we named the current software licensing scheme 'Professional Edition' and this is already available now and worldwide.

regards
Gert

Will it be possible to purchase the additional modules one by one? I.e. "bolt-ons" to the the free product.

I'm thinking (in particular) about SSL VPN, IPS and A/V.

Thanks

Hi, VPN and IPS would both be included in the basic Professional Edition license; you could add Web and/or SMTP A/V later.
If you need pricing, you should contact a reseller; they're listed at How to Buy Astaro Solutions - All-in-One Unified Threat Management Solutions for Complete Network Security, Web Security and Mail Security

Barry

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The reason I ask is that I now work for a small company (v.small ~ 6 employees) and as I use Astaro at home and have purchased 2 x 425's whilst working for a previous company I'm comfortable with the technology, but not with the prices.

My basic requirements would be:

Http proxy with a/v
IPS
DHCP/DNS/NTP/Firewall
SSL VPN

But it'd have to be very keenly priced or I'd have to seek alternatives (as always ... )

OK, so how long would it take you to learn something else and how much would it cost your employer to support you in that effort? I estimate that the value of something is 2.5 times the salary expended.

Cheers - Bob

__________________
ACE V7 - Astaro Preferred Partner since V3
Addicted to my iPhone!

Hi Bob,

I'm immune to sales justification speak, apologies for that , but to answer at least one of your questions:-

I dont think it would take a long time to get to grips with those very basic requirements.

I can go out and purchase a cut down hardware firewall from Netgear for a couple of hundred UKP with wireless etc that I can give to someone else to manage (and because it's a simple device, it's not going to take much learning) but as I stated before, *I'm* comfortable with the ASG technology and I'd prefer to use Astaro.

It's all about trade offs - either we purchase some low end kit to do the job that isnt Astaro and make do, or we use the free ASG offering. All the prices I've ever got from Astaro are .. shall we say .. up there with the big boys ... which isnt going to fly when we need a budget solution. I'm unsure of the cost or possibility of adding just the SSL VPN to the free mix, hence my 1st question.

*If* the SSL VPN was enabled I would be able to quickly deploy a machine internally with Astaro written all over it which ticks all the boxes for now and gets more people using the ASG.

Freudy

I know astaro is trying to protect their revenue but some highly critical things are missing:

A/v protection. This is included even in an ipcop scenario with a simple addon. give it only the clamav and keep the other for yourself(this is also what Untangle does). Also include A/V for e-mail. Leaving spam protection out is ok..

Most of my clients(and i deal with 10 employees or less) are running windows servers. Having a/d just for user reporting is another critical feature.

Limiting openvpn to the "paid" editions is silly when it's free and rather easily implemented...and it's included in Untangle.

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