Open source, well integrated, easy to use.
Open source, well integrated, and easy to use
What is most valuable?
How has it helped my organization?
When I started to work as a IT manager at an Argentinian branch of my company, in order to find solutions to implement, the users browsed directly on the internet for a solution. As I'm an open source enthusiast and have 10 years of experience deploying firewalls and proxies, I decided to implement a Squid + Dansguardian + ClamAV server (over Debian box) but didn't have the time to dedicate to this. After a quick search we started evaluating a few out-of-the-box solutions and found Zentyal.
One of the main goals for me is that, if I should pick open source software to make an gateway/secure appliance, it should be the same set of software (Squid, OpenVPN, Dansguardian, etc) and the integration needed to be done very well.
The great web interface makes me forget the complexity of the integration of this software.
After the implementation I was able to:
- Minimize the bandwidth utilization (thanks to proxy cache)
- Filter web content and eradicates malware download
- Apply different browsing profiles for each area
- Authenticate navigation and users utilization of internet
I only use Proxy / AV service because have the corporate mail services and VPN structure.
For how long have I used the solution?
5 years.
What was my experience with deployment of the solution?
The only issue I found was in LDAP authentication with Active Directory corporate domain. Didn't work but don't spend any time researching a possible solution.
How are customer service and technical support?
Didn't use because I downloaded the Community Edition.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Yes. I always make my own installations of Squid.
How was the initial setup?
Very easy.
What about the implementation team?
I downloaded and deployed on my own.
What was our ROI?
Didn't spend any money. Only the hardware where it runs.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
IPCop
What other advice do I have?
Great solution for stand alone companies, when you don't have any budget for securing navigation or when you want to deploy a solution without being dependent on third party technicians.
