 Re: Necessity of installing Standalone due to license?
Don't forget the cost of the ISA Windows license.
ISA is not as trouble-free a setup as some people think. For one, to make everything work, you need to install their "firewall client" software on each client. That's another piece of client software you have to maintain and the user can screw with.
But it's not really a client-side firewall, it just makes ISA work right with the more complex protocols. For remote access users, you then need to throw in the costs for a real software firewall to protect your laptops (purchase/install/another vendor, etc.)
ISA does NOT support AES encryption, it only has 3DES. This is very processor intensive for both the server and the client. It does not support data compression on remote access connections, as does SecureClient. When people see slow remote connections, nobody is going to think that it was a great deal to go with a cheaper product.
I don't know why anyone needs a secondary SmartCenter unless they have a really large operation with lots of firewalls. In a distributed environment, the firewalls keep right on working for awhile (hours if not days) when the SmartCenter is down.
FWIW,
Ray  |