Untangle

A virtual rack where you can put software based servers to build up your security appliance which includes anti-virus, anti-spam, IDP, etc

Tuesday, October 06, 2009

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Untangle provides all the basic security functionalities that a typical UTM offers including anti-virus, anti-spam, anti-malware/spyware, IPS, content filtering, monitoring,etc. You can download and install the free and open source UTM on a decent machine and start using it. You don't need to worry about the licenses or the restricted number of users. In the free edition, you get open source virus databases and with the paid version, you get Kaspersky virus blocker. Also in case of anti-spam, the paid version provides Commtouch Spam blocker which is one of the best in the breed. Apart from these, the paid version provides live support, WAN balancer which allow the administrator to allocate traffic across multiple Internet providers, remote access panel, which allows you to access internal network resources services such as file server, webmail, etc via a Web browser and over a secure channel.

Untangle has a graphical installation option. Also the installation was easy as compared to the text based Endian. Once the installation was done, a wizard popped which further helped in configuring the UTM. Untangle provides a client interface on the machine it is installed to as well as a Web based configuration panel for remote management. Once the configuration is done, real pain starts. You need to download each feature one by one. For example, if you need an anti-spam solution then you have to download it. The download option is easy. You just need to do couple of clicks, and once it is downloaded, it automatically gets mounted on the virtual rack.

We tested out the software on our Harpertown server, and the performance was satisfying. The results were very much similar as compared to other UTMs in the shootout. First, we did the anti-virus test and the result was 92%. Also the virus collection was a mix of Macro, Zipped and Executables. Next was the anti-spam test, where it was able to catch 54% of spam only. Further in the IPS test, it passed by stopping the attacks. We tried jamming the port with five different machines, and we were able to jam the ports. Next, we ran Nessus which showed zero hole and warnings which is good. We also tested for DOS attack which this device detected and stopped.

This shows the Untangle virtual rack, with all the appliances plugged in and working. It also shows real time data within the appliances.

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