i am shure astaro team reads all posts, but i think they have not time to answer all posts. they invest the answer time in develop [;)]
Astaro-Report-Manager is an new feature to do a central reporting for asl-firewalls, e.g. you have to administrate a lot of, you can central see what happens. also you can correlate you data.
I mostly agree with what I'm reading here. Something somewhat relevant here.
Sadly, I've looked at the low cost alternatives and can't find anything that is acceptable. Gibraltar [gibraltar.at] looks promising, but doesn't seem to have much usage (or mail list traffic). Nothing else really seems to compare with Astaro.
Hi all,
this UBB is a great thing and this is the time to say thanks to all the other users who helped me at many times on this board.
But astaro could not think this is all wich happens here. To get a update i have to install every uptodate before - i have to if i would or not so i have to insert any new feature i could not do anything against if i want to have security udates and bugfixes.
This is a linux product so please astaro look to other linux-projects in many cases there are two lines,
a stable - there are only bugfixes and security updates.
and then there is the second line there are the new features and the testing of it.
---- This is a security product there is no room for testing new features ------.
If this product is used in a bigger enterprise the security is the higest wich is to do. So if its not stable enough some day my boss comes in and he will tell me that there is no more room for astaro in our business. that is the day from wich on no single ¤ / dollar will flow to astaro, it is not the money for the licenses wich counts in that moment its the security.
Please ASTARO dont let this day come.
Its not only to some more professional help here it is the way of doing the work with this great product.
hopefully for a astaro answer .....
greets
firebear
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7 x Enterprise license
1 x 100 User license
3 x 25 User license
3 x home user license
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a last thing to the marketing of astaro :
ther is no need to make a new version of Astaro ( maybe V6) before this one is stable.
i think one of the main problem is that there are to many diferent hardware configurations out there - what about the apliances? do they have the same issues? i can't understand that my system is down more times a day for about 2 minutes and others aren't.
[ QUOTE ] To answer all the questions in this UBB by an astaro employee would need tons of time and menpower.
[/ QUOTE ] It's painfully obvious Astaro is not spending ANY time on this board to answer even the most important questions
If they don't want to be expected to post reply's to our problems and known bugs, then Astaro should not post here at all. If you do it a little then more is going to be expected. It's pretty obvious by Astaro's lack of participation here the past couple of weeks, that they have basically decided on the "hands off" approach! From what I can see, there have been only a handfull of Astaro posts in the last two weeks. I'd like to think that means they are working on the bugs. But then again they just came out with 5.025, which as we know is more about another new feature than anything else. So I'm not holding my breath about them spending more time on the bugs! [:(]
They've got to know that all this bad press on this board does not boad well for thier business, especially with regards to potential customers. Not only that but some of the best advertisement they can have is by the customers themselves. I have a feeling Astaro recommendations won't come as easily from current users at this point and time! And if it does it will probably come with a word of caution!
yep,many matter was dropped,but to tell the truth..you are wrong.,this because you make a noise without fondation..
I've make moderator in position to know the existence of this tread..
what "noise" are you referring to? Some of us know Astaro is busy right now and are voicing our concerns. Some may post out of sheer frustration. Plus i am sure the moderators already know of this thread.....Simply saying"you are making noise without a foundation" is exactly what you just did..this is not an argument just trying to belittle somebody.
[ QUOTE ] yep,many matter was dropped,but to tell the truth..you are wrong.,this because you make a noise without fondation.. I've make moderator in position to know the existence of this tread..
if u dont like this product,just dont use it.
Regards lin
[/ QUOTE ]
sit back and relax most of the users here are old asl irons - so i think that you're not really in the position to say kinda stuff, but hey you're the man [;)]
people draw conclusions based on the information they have.
As it stands there are three key facts:
Astaro make very little information available via this forum. Astaro has identified bugs in the firewall. Astaro are releasing new features in favour of fixes.
No matter how much you debate it these three facts are true.
In my opinion two things make this thread so popular.
Lack of information via this forum from Astaro and the simple undeniable fact of anyone who is interested in security (e.g. all here) that security devices and software should not have identified bugs with no impending solution.
Cap this of with users waiting eagerly for bug fix patches to fix the problems they "personally" are having and it is a recipe for bad relations.
In my opinion Astaro should:
Start a public bug tracker Dedicate some man power to these forums Release bug fixes until we have at least one stable V5 release
and then the prolem goes away.
If this is not possible then do what all big linux projects do... have a stable and devleopment branch.
At the end of the day it is lack of information that has caused this (which is one of many) threads.
I've been following this thread in silence, biting my tongue. But enough is enough, I've got to say something, and just let the chips fall where they may:
The beating up on Astaro in this thread (and some others) is unhelpful. If some of you think Astaro has issues, go use some of the other firewalls on the market -- none of them are perfect. There isn't a single piece of software or an operating system that doesn't have bugs that need fixing, and most companies just leave the bugs in and hope the users will put up with them. It seems to me that Astaro goes out of their way to make ASL the best it can be -- and they're doing a damn good job. Just go to the ICSA website and compare Astaro against all the other firewalls in the 4.0 criteria certified list -- most of them are dysfunctional toys compared to Astaro. There is NO DOUBT that ASL has some bugs that need fixing, but there is also no doubt that Astaro developers are chewing their fingers down to the knuckles and burning the midnight oil to get it right.
I apologize if my comments offended any individual -- I'm speaking to this whole thread in general.
I've been following this thread in silence, biting my tongue. But enough is enough, I've got to say something, and just let the chips fall where they may:
The beating up on Astaro in this thread (and some others) is unhelpful. If some of you think Astaro has issues, go use some of the other firewalls on the market -- none of them are perfect. There isn't a single piece of software or an operating system that doesn't have bugs that need fixing, and most companies just leave the bugs in and hope the users will put up with them. It seems to me that Astaro goes out of their way to make ASL the best it can be -- and they're doing a damn good job. Just go to the ICSA website and compare Astaro against all the other firewalls in the 4.0 criteria certified list -- most of them are dysfunctional toys compared to Astaro. There is NO DOUBT that ASL has some bugs that need fixing, but there is also no doubt that Astaro developers are chewing their fingers down to the knuckles and burning the midnight oil to get it right.
I apologize if my comments offended any individual -- I'm speaking to this whole thread in general.
I'm with OfficeDefender, You're getting about a million times more than you paid for. If you're a commercial client, use the support you're paying for. These forums are for FREE support for the FREE product you're using. Would you apply a windows service pack before seeing what other problems it creates. That the risk us "early adopters" run for being on the edge. If you're so offended that Astaro doesn't pay attention to this forum the way you think they should, try Smoothwall and Dick Morrell's attitude. We'll see you back here REAL soon.
OfficeDefender, I fully understand and agree with you in many ways but I have to say that releasing a new feature prior to a bug fixes was not a great idea.
Releasing new features before bug fixes may be Astaros policy but I do not agree with it.
I also agree that no piece of software does not have bugs.
But i reiterate my point, the ONLY REAL problem with Astaro is lack of information causing legitimate paying users to make assumptions that may ultimately be wrong.
As for Smoothwall do even go there... I too have been on the end of that terrible terrible attitude.
of course the easiest thing is to say -> "if you don't like it don't use it", but i think we all agree if we say that this is chicken .... and not really professional.
i can't belive that there are people out there (in the security business) defending products (security products) that are buggy.
and the best thing is that those become angry here, when they read negativ response from "home users".
sorry dudes -> i'm a home user but why shouldn't i tell the world that this software is not really usable at the moment??!
of course there are people out there (astaro partners, etc) who maybe think that they get invited to a cup of coffe by astaro for shutting up the home users mouths, but mine will stay open -> not with me dudes, not with me
[ QUOTE ] I've been following this thread in silence, biting my tongue. But enough is enough, I've got to say something, and just let the chips fall where they may:
The beating up on Astaro in this thread (and some others) is unhelpful. If some of you think Astaro has issues, go use some of the other firewalls on the market -- none of them are perfect. There isn't a single piece of software or an operating system that doesn't have bugs that need fixing, and most companies just leave the bugs in and hope the users will put up with them. It seems to me that Astaro goes out of their way to make ASL the best it can be -- and they're doing a damn good job. Just go to the ICSA website and compare Astaro against all the other firewalls in the 4.0 criteria certified list -- most of them are dysfunctional toys compared to Astaro. There is NO DOUBT that ASL has some bugs that need fixing, but there is also no doubt that Astaro developers are chewing their fingers down to the knuckles and burning the midnight oil to get it right.
I apologize if my comments offended any individual -- I'm speaking to this whole thread in general.
Steve.
[/ QUOTE ] I have to totally diasgree with you OD..ASL may be ISCA 4 certified and that's all well and good but right now for many users the software while secure is so unstable it is unsusable. Astaro needs to fix the codebase(i have been saying this for a looooooooooooooooooong time) and get it stable before releasing new features. No Astaro bashing..just the facts.
It was the whole Dick Morrell and Smoothwall thing that made me turn to Astaro years ago. Since then I have not looked back.
However speaking from experience, ASL is the BEST firewall I have encountered. I use on a daily basis (and have to suffer with them): Netscreens, Symantec (Raptor/Enteprise) Firewalls, Cisco PIX, Mandrake MNF, Smoothwall, Checkpoints, and Nortels.
I dare you to find one product for the same pricepoint that offers nearly as many features!
Even though I do have occasional issue with any of my 7 ASL installs, a simple email to support usually gets the problem taken care of right away. AND that is without me paying any extra for support.
If you ever get the chance to talk to any of the people who work @ Astaro, you would understand exactly how busy they are. I have met and talked with a few of them, and they are some of the nicest people you could know.
I really hope those of you who are bashing them for not doing this, that, or whatever, are at least paying customers. If you are a home user, put up with it or leave the nest. There are many other products out there for piddly little home users.
i can't belive that there are people out there (in the security business) defending products (security products) that are buggy.
[/ QUOTE ]
Uhm.. if none of the security products on the market had bugs, then why would every vendor release patches, updates, etc?
And what about people running something like Symantec or Checkpoint or even MS ISA server on an extremely buggy OS like Windows? That doubles the trouble for a firewall.
So don't act like Astaro is the only product with bugs in it.
I use almost every single feature included in ASL, and I have had very few problems with any feature. Maybe it is because I run them on decent hardware, and not try to make it run on a Pentium 200 or some old crap like that?
i can't belive that there are people out there (in the security business) defending products (security products) that are buggy.
[/ QUOTE ]
Uhm.. if none of the security products on the market had bugs, then why would every vendor release patches, updates, etc?
And what about people running something like Symantec or Checkpoint or even MS ISA server on an extremely buggy OS like Windows? That doubles the trouble for a firewall.
So don't act like Astaro is the only product with bugs in it.
I use almost every single feature included in ASL, and I have had very few problems with any feature. Maybe it is because I run them on decent hardware, and not try to make it run on a Pentium 200 or some old crap like that?
[/ QUOTE ]
you know what is hilarious about this? MOST of the users reporting problems are on p-4' 2.0 ghz and up and athlon xp's..many(maybe not most with at least 256 or more of ram and 20-100 gig drives. Hardware is not the issue.
[ QUOTE ] It was the whole Dick Morrell and Smoothwall thing that made me turn to Astaro years ago. Since then I have not looked back.
However speaking from experience, ASL is the BEST firewall I have encountered. I use on a daily basis (and have to suffer with them): Netscreens, Symantec (Raptor/Enteprise) Firewalls, Cisco PIX, Mandrake MNF, Smoothwall, Checkpoints, and Nortels.
I dare you to find one product for the same pricepoint that offers nearly as many features!
Even though I do have occasional issue with any of my 7 ASL installs, a simple email to support usually gets the problem taken care of right away. AND that is without me paying any extra for support.
If you ever get the chance to talk to any of the people who work @ Astaro, you would understand exactly how busy they are. I have met and talked with a few of them, and they are some of the nicest people you could know.
I really hope those of you who are bashing them for not doing this, that, or whatever, are at least paying customers. If you are a home user, put up with it or leave the nest. There are many other products out there for piddly little home users.
[/ QUOTE ] As far as moothie goes dick morrel is gone now and the attitude is totally different. Smoothie has its good points..one being highly customizable.
[ QUOTE ] I have to totally diasgree with you OD..ASL may be ISCA 4 certified and that's all well and good but right now for many users the software while secure is so unstable it is unsusable. Astaro needs to fix the codebase(i have been saying this for a looooooooooooooooooong time) and get it stable before releasing new features. No Astaro bashing..just the facts.
[/ QUOTE ]
If it is so "unstable", then why is it running just fine at every single site our company manages? We're talking lots and lots of sites, all of which I either manage myself or oversee the management of. And then there are the locations we do consulting for, those are running just fine on v5 as well -- if they weren't, I'd have a bunch of network techs barking at me on a daily basis. Yes, there are issues, but they aren't show-stoppers, just inconveniences that have to be worked around until the fixes are out. There were some serious problems with the early releases of version 5, but those are gone.
As far as the decision by Astaro to push out the new feature in the 5.025 release, the assumptions being made in this thread are completely wrong. Astaro runs its releases on a schedule, and the new feature in 5.025 was mapped out a long time ago and has been in QA testing for some time. The new feature in 5.025 is NOT an indication that Astaro isn't fixing the current issues -- they don't drop the ball while they work on a new feature, they have a team of developers working on various things. Astaro is a company, not a couple of guys in a basement hacking out code. The assumptions being made in this thread are simply ridiculous.
[ QUOTE ] OfficeDefender, I fully understand and agree with you in many ways but I have to say that releasing a new feature prior to a bug fixes was not a great idea.
Releasing new features before bug fixes may be Astaros policy but I do not agree with it.
[/ QUOTE ]
There is a SERIOUS misunderstanding on this board as to how this all works, I hope I can correct it. Astaro, like most software vendors, runs on a roadmap. For example, when they released version 5 they had already mapped out a rough release schedule for features that didn't make it in the first cut. They know what they expect version 6 to be and they are working their way along a roadmap to get to that level. *Simultaneously*, they have developers working on bug fixes and releasing them as fast as possible after going through a QA process. THE RELEASE OF THE NEW FEATURE IN 5.025 IS NOT, I REPEAT, NOT AN INDICATION THAT ASTARO ISN'T WORKING ON FIXING EXISTING ISSUES!! You folks are reading way, way too much into this.
