How is it going so far?

I just came to the XG from Meraki MX land.  Before that I was using Microsoft TMG/ISA since 2000.  I'll share my experiences so far and my thoughts in general.

First of all, out of the box I used the wizard to configure the XG and at the end I ended up with a configuration that didn't work.  Well, let me back up, it mostly didn't work.  I could get internet access, but policies didn't work and static routing didn't work.  I decided to just do a factory wipe and configure manually from scratch.  When I did that, everything has been working well and no unexpected problems or anomalies.  I don't know if something I put in the wizard created a config that it didn't like or what, but I would advise a manual config out of the gate if possible.  Getting STAS SSO working was a major challenge out of the gate as well, it didn't work well at all but after a few days, it all magically started working (I am unsure as to why exactly although I have a few ideas).  Other than that, everything seems to work very well and I am mostly happy.  As Luk said above, they just released MR3 that had a ton of bug fixes and v17 will hopefully be a great release as well.  I also just got a RED 15 and adding it to the XG was a very simple affair and it "just works" which is why I got it, it will be replacing a pfSense box at a remote site connected back to the XG over IPsec. 

In comparison to the Meraki this device is replacing, I think the XG is a 1000 times more powerful.  I get far better throughput; the malware scanning, IPS, application control, and content filtering is far superior.  It is far more configurable.  It is significantly cheaper as well.  I know a lot of people complain about the logging (and I get their point) but the logging on XG is already better than you're going to get from Meraki. 

To me, the way this product operates, especially with the rules, is a lot like the Microsoft TMG product, so it feels very natural to me and makes logical sense.  It is a bit rough around the edges in some areas, but its clear Sophos is improving it at a steady pace and while I know the UTM people seem to loathe it I think it s a good product and feel like its a good choice for people. 

I just came to the XG from Meraki MX land.  Before that I was using Microsoft TMG/ISA since 2000.  I'll share my experiences so far and my thoughts in general.

First of all, out of the box I used the wizard to configure the XG and at the end I ended up with a configuration that didn't work.  Well, let me back up, it mostly didn't work.  I could get internet access, but policies didn't work and static routing didn't work.  I decided to just do a factory wipe and configure manually from scratch.  When I did that, everything has been working well and no unexpected problems or anomalies.  I don't know if something I put in the wizard created a config that it didn't like or what, but I would advise a manual config out of the gate if possible.  Getting STAS SSO working was a major challenge out of the gate as well, it didn't work well at all but after a few days, it all magically started working (I am unsure as to why exactly although I have a few ideas).  Other than that, everything seems to work very well and I am mostly happy.  As Luk said above, they just released MR3 that had a ton of bug fixes and v17 will hopefully be a great release as well.  I also just got a RED 15 and adding it to the XG was a very simple affair and it "just works" which is why I got it, it will be replacing a pfSense box at a remote site connected back to the XG over IPsec. 

In comparison to the Meraki this device is replacing, I think the XG is a 1000 times more powerful.  I get far better throughput; the malware scanning, IPS, application control, and content filtering is far superior.  It is far more configurable.  It is significantly cheaper as well.  I know a lot of people complain about the logging (and I get their point) but the logging on XG is already better than you're going to get from Meraki. 

To me, the way this product operates, especially with the rules, is a lot like the Microsoft TMG product, so it feels very natural to me and makes logical sense.  It is a bit rough around the edges in some areas, but its clear Sophos is improving it at a steady pace and while I know the UTM people seem to loathe it I think it s a good product and feel like its a good choice for people. 

Hi Bill,

I could not agree more, XG has it's own fair share of pros and cons. but we'll have to wait with the next version release and see how XG would improve

keep in touch.

Regards,