Can Traffic Inspector replace Forefront TMG?
On September 12, 2012, Microsoft announced the termination of sales of Forefront Threat Management Gateway 2010 (formerly known as Microsoft ISA Server). A similar fate has been set for several other Forefront products, including Forefront Protection 2010 for Exchange Server and Forefront Threat Management Gateway Web Protection Services. This news is hardly pleased fans of Microsoft products.
There really is something to be upset about - over the years of its existence, Forefront TMG has become a kind of benchmark and one of the most successful implementations of the “integrated security gateway for corporate network” concept. We admit honestly: Traffic Inspector has always tried to incorporate the most successful solutions implemented in the same Forefront TMG. In general, these programs have a lot in common, and they have followed a very similar path of development: from highly specialized proxy servers to wide-functional network "combines". Traffic Inspector appeared somewhat later than its competitor and at the initial stages of its existence actively supported the idea of ​​sharing in one network. But time, as they say, does not stand still, and Traffic Inspector today is a completely self-sufficient solution. The program at the same time continues to evolve. In May 2013, Smart-Soft plans to release version 3.0 , which should bring the program to a new qualitative level - both in terms of usability and technical characteristics. In this regard, a very interesting question is whether Traffic Inspector is able to serve as a full-fledged replacement for Microsoft TMG?
Microsoft TMG and Traffic Inspector have dozens of mechanisms and subsystems aimed at solving many problems arising from connecting a corporate network to the Internet. In order not to bore readers with a description of the functional, about which they are already well aware, let us summarize the information in a short tabular form. Immediately, we note that we are not striving to provide an exhaustive list of supported functionality. Instead, in the center of our attention only the most popular and relevant for corporate gateways are features.
The picture is very interesting. Both products are characterized by a high degree of integration - they are complex solutions designed to organize Internet access and comprehensive protection of the corporate network. We note in particular the extended routing system implemented in Traffic Insctor, which allows you to manage network traffic based on a variety of criteria. Not to mention the billing system that supports individual and shared accounts. Both Traffic Inspector and Forefront TMG can act as an Internet router, NAT server and proxy server , as well as implement support for VPN connections. Both programs are equipped with all the necessary components in order to ensure the security of the gateway and its workstations, as well as confidently cope with the issues of network traffic optimization. Forefront TMG is focused on large networks and supports such important mechanisms in this context as the creation of failover clusters of Forefront TMG servers and load balancing between corporate servers. The absence of these mechanisms in Traffic Inspector is primarily due to its focus on small and medium-sized networks. Also, among the characteristics of the program Traffic Inspector is a wide choice of supported platforms based on Microsoft Windows. As a result of comparing the two programs, we conclude that Microsoft TMG is better than Traffic Inspector for use in large corporate networks. As for networks of medium and small size, here both products can equally provide the declared functionality and provide the necessary services.
There really is something to be upset about - over the years of its existence, Forefront TMG has become a kind of benchmark and one of the most successful implementations of the “integrated security gateway for corporate network” concept. We admit honestly: Traffic Inspector has always tried to incorporate the most successful solutions implemented in the same Forefront TMG. In general, these programs have a lot in common, and they have followed a very similar path of development: from highly specialized proxy servers to wide-functional network "combines". Traffic Inspector appeared somewhat later than its competitor and at the initial stages of its existence actively supported the idea of ​​sharing in one network. But time, as they say, does not stand still, and Traffic Inspector today is a completely self-sufficient solution. The program at the same time continues to evolve. In May 2013, Smart-Soft plans to release version 3.0 , which should bring the program to a new qualitative level - both in terms of usability and technical characteristics. In this regard, a very interesting question is whether Traffic Inspector is able to serve as a full-fledged replacement for Microsoft TMG?
Microsoft TMG and Traffic Inspector have dozens of mechanisms and subsystems aimed at solving many problems arising from connecting a corporate network to the Internet. In order not to bore readers with a description of the functional, about which they are already well aware, let us summarize the information in a short tabular form. Immediately, we note that we are not striving to provide an exhaustive list of supported functionality. Instead, in the center of our attention only the most popular and relevant for corporate gateways are features.
The picture is very interesting. Both products are characterized by a high degree of integration - they are complex solutions designed to organize Internet access and comprehensive protection of the corporate network. We note in particular the extended routing system implemented in Traffic Insctor, which allows you to manage network traffic based on a variety of criteria. Not to mention the billing system that supports individual and shared accounts. Both Traffic Inspector and Forefront TMG can act as an Internet router, NAT server and proxy server , as well as implement support for VPN connections. Both programs are equipped with all the necessary components in order to ensure the security of the gateway and its workstations, as well as confidently cope with the issues of network traffic optimization. Forefront TMG is focused on large networks and supports such important mechanisms in this context as the creation of failover clusters of Forefront TMG servers and load balancing between corporate servers. The absence of these mechanisms in Traffic Inspector is primarily due to its focus on small and medium-sized networks. Also, among the characteristics of the program Traffic Inspector is a wide choice of supported platforms based on Microsoft Windows. As a result of comparing the two programs, we conclude that Microsoft TMG is better than Traffic Inspector for use in large corporate networks. As for networks of medium and small size, here both products can equally provide the declared functionality and provide the necessary services.
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Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/183348/
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