AppGate Security Server (AGSS) and Device Firewall (DFW) is an offering of multiple utilities tied into one package. One unique aspect is that it is pre-installed on Sun hardware. The offering is a three-tiered product with the AGSS as the head, a management console as the middleware, and the device firewall, which is installed on the client.
As opposed to other products in this category, the AGSS protects the endpoints through firewall and intrusion protection type features.
The AppGate server comes almost preconfigured, so installation begins with the policy manager. There are several
hardware and operating systems supported by the management console. The policy manager can use Windows, Unix, Linux with Java 1.4 or later and sets the configuration for the device firewall.
Endpoints can have multiple firewall configurations. For example, an endpoint can have one policy when it can communicate with the AGSS, and a separate policy for when it is out of contact with the AGSS.
The Device Firewall is easy for end-users to install and is ideal for servers. The configuration allows for granular control of permitted and denied traffic. The Device Firewall has no graphical user interface, making it much less likely that a user will try to change the firewall configuration.
The installation of AppGate Security Server and Device Firewall posed no problems for the installation team.
The documentation for the tool definately needs improving as the only material we found were product data sheets.
Support is offered through pay services only, and the fee is listed at 20 per cent of the product purchase price. Phone, email and website support are all available, although the AppGate website only provides a FAQ section and not an entire knowledge base.
The pricing for the AppGate Security Server and Device Firewall is £10,750, plus 20 per cent for support (includes Sun hardware, 25 DFWs and one policy manager licence), making this product average value for the money.