09/01/2003 Archived Entry: "Fixed!"

Ha. The solution to the bandwidth problem turned out to be simple--return the network cards and buy two new ones. Once this was done, a quick re-install and reconfigure of Astaro gifted me with perfect Internet access. w00t!

Let it now be said--I LIKE ASTARO. This product is smooth. It really is an enterprise-grade solution, and there are more options than I would ever be able to use. You organize ports and protocol combinations into service groups (and all the common ones are pre-configured), and then you organize network ranges into network groups, and then you arrange them all with packet filters--allow or disallow this kind of service group traffic to pass from this network group to this other network group. It's UBER-configurable, and at the same time it's extremely easy to set up and get going. The install takes about ten minutes, after that, from the time you first visit the web interface to the time you're fully configured and browsing the web from behind an extremely secure firewall, only about forty-five more seconds have elapsed.

There's also the standard stuff like proxies, remote access enablement, vpn support, and just about any other feature you can imagine a stateful firewall having. I love it. And the MRTG-style reporting is damned cool, too! There's an incredibly cool demo of the web interface available on-line. It looks and smells exactly like the real thing, with all the options live. Tres cool.

Labor day today here in the states. This means no work and barbeque with friends. KK and I will be taking off in a couple of hours to head over to my buddy Steve's house, where we will also meet up with the F&SN Critic and his wife for a dinner of flame-grilled hamburgers with flame-grilled onions and lots of horseradish mustard. Mmmmm, horseradish mustard. Drooool.

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