Test Astaro Security Gateway V7.200 BETA and win a fully loaded (3 year) ASG120 appliance
Astaro invites you to participate in the Astaro Beta Test Program. The new ASG V7.200 features an improved Instant Messaging (IM) and Peer-to-peer (P2P) detection engine including skype blocking, an updated IPS engine and linux kernel as well bugfixes and other improvements.
What's new in ASG V7.200?
This release focuses on an improved IM and P2P detection and blocking, Astaro developed and integrated a new layer 7 application classification engine.
It features a better detection accuracy making it possible to detect and block skype as well as a performance improvement.
The new design made additional features possible like exception for IM/P2P as well as the usage of the application classification inside Bandwidth Management (QoS).
Exceptions for IM/P2P
This feature makes it possible to create exceptions for certain users (by ip address) to change the default policy of the IM/P2P management
Skype Detection/Blocking/Alerting
Skype uses a specially designed protocol to bypass nearly every blocking device making it a security risk to many companies. This release includes the functionality to detect and block skype at the gateway.
Bandwidth Management (QoS) for IM/P2P protocols
It is now possible to use the Layer 7 classified protocols (IM/P2P) inside the bandwidth management (QoS) and shape/throttle these kind of protocols.
Filter Web-Content based on Mime-Type/Content-Type
Demanded by many customer we added WebContent blocking based on Mime-Type/Content-Type.
Besides these new features the new release includes kernel bugfixes and updates that increase the stability as well as extend the supported hardware.
Known-Issues
We are still fine tuning the detection engine and know that some protocols are not yet fully classified. Also the File-transfer blocking of IM protocols has not been enabled yet.
How to become a Beta Tester
Bullet proof internet security is mission critical to all our customers. A comprehensive testing procedure is required to achieve the right level of perfection for Astaro products in a productive environment. Therefore we would like to invite you to participate in our Beta Test Program. The following sections will provide all the information you need to download, install and test the ASG V7.2 Beta.
Testing Period
March 26th - April 17rd
Download
You can either do a new installation by downloading and installing the complete ISO image or you can upgrade your existing installation with the BETA up2date package.
New installation:
- Download asg-7.180-080326-2.iso
size:472 MB (483,756,032 Byte)
md5sum: 9e923048ca1f4e6f37d406449b2b9b0b
Upgrade:
- Download u2d-sys-7.180.tgz.gpg
size: 92 MB (94,257,858 Byte)
md5sum: e042b72e506b3b7803930ebd79329319
- As the first Beta Up2Date package will not be fetched via the automatic Up2Date mechanism you need to download and install the Up2Date package manually
- Download the Up2Date package from our FTP Server and install it in WebAdmin under Management >> Up2Date >> Advanced (please note: you need a running 7.104 to install 7.180)
- Further Beta Up2Date packages, which will be released during the test period will be automatically fetched as usually
- At the end of the beta phase we will offer a migration path for all BETA installations to install 7.200 GA and keep config and log files
Download servers:
- Astaro FTP server: ftp://betau2d:korgano@ftp.astaro.de/
Limitations and Hints
- With the provided ISO image there maybe some limitations (remember: it's a BETA :-)
- ASG V7.2 BETA will not be supported via Astaro's support teams therefore you should not use it within productive environments.
- An ASG V7.2 manual and complete Online Help will be available with the GA release.
- The ASG V7.2 BETA version is compatible with the latest version of Astaro Command Center (ACC), including deployments with HA and Clustering scenarios.
- We are currently fine tuning the detection engine, therefore some protocols might not yet be detected fully or some over blocking might occur.
Test Cases
After you have successfully installed the beta version of ASG V7.2 you are able to conduct individual tests at your own discretion. If feasible we would also appreciate if you would have a closer look into the following areas and provide us with your personal feedback as described below:
- network performance when IPS and/or IM/P2P management is enabled
- cpu and ram utilization when IPS and/or IM/P2P management is enabled
- detection accuracy of the new IM/P2P engine
- false classification of connections
- system stability
Feedback
As with earlier versions please post any feedback and discuss any of the ASG V7.2 BETA features on our User Bulletin Board in the "BETA Version" forum.
Win a fully loaded ASG 120 !
Your feedback is important. It supports our effort to meet the highest quality demands. As a result, all participants in our Beta Program for ASG V7.1 will have the chance to win one fully loaded ASG120! And this is how it works:
Beta Testers using the Astaro User Bulletin Board to provide their feedback are invited to participate in the Astaro Beta Challenge: The tester who is reporting the highest amount of confirmed bugs will be honored with it . For more information please see the posting on our User Bulletin Board beta forum.
Shortly after the Beta phase has finished Astaro will evaluate the feedback of all beta program participants and will inform you about your possible win of the ASG120. Good luck!
Your Astaro Product Management Team
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