Sofa@Office 500 or UTM-1 Edge

[ppawlo]

Hi All, I need to buy either SOFA or EDGE for 5 users.
Can you give me advice what should I buy and why?

I know, that Edge can be manage by CP Management – but is it only one advantage?
Regards
Pawel

[flawless_cowboy]

thats the only difference, Edge can be managed for Smart Center or SMP and Safe@ can only be managed by SMP. Other than that they are exactly the same. The licenses are slightly different Safe@ seems to come in 5,10,15,20,etc. Edge only comes in 8,16,32,U.

[Thorpuse]

Not true - there are some features that are not turned on in the Safe@Office without the "Power Pack". Check the product specs and be careful this doesn't trip you up. The Power Pack add-on makes buying an Edge rather than a Safe@ a good choice for small licenses.

[chillyjim]

The hardware and firmware are the same. License determines what features are enabled (everything with Edge by default).

The other change is where support comes from. If you get an Edge its Check Point support, Safe@ you talk to Sofaware.

[dantro]

The only question is if the appliance shall be managed by a SmartCenter Server. If so you need to buy an UTM-1 Edge.

Otherwise and by all means buy a Safe@. Configure your rules locally on the appliance, bring it online and go into the Sofaware Chat. Activate your appliance and let it add to their Service Center: usercenter.sofaware.net

You will then automatically receive firmware updates, dynamic DNS service, monthly reports and so on. You won't get all that if you locally manage a UTM-1 Edge.

[Wullum]

Any clues on how licensing will go when buying Sofa@Office500 used (i.e. second hand) thu eBay or such?

Can buy one, nice for homeoffice, but licensing may render it "not cost-friendly".

Cheers, Wim

[lammbo]

Once you buy a Safe@ device for X # of hosts, the only thing you pay for on top of that is the subscription services - dynamic DNS, automatic firmware updates, anti-virus definitions, etc. IF you choose to use them, they will need to be licensed.

It's nice to have a site-2-site VPN and not have to use SecureClient when home so if you buy a used one for your home office, you should be fine. I bought one for myself and use it at home with no subscription services. My only initial concern was firmware updates, but since I have a real support contract and several edge devices, I can download new firmware and manually update code. As previously stated by others, the hardware and firmware are identical to the Edge boxes.

Go here to see pricing for the Safe@ service subscriptions.

[chillyjim]

Originally Posted by Wullum

Any clues on how licensing will go when buying Sofa@Office500 used (i.e. second hand) thu eBay or such?

Be careful buying off of e-bay a lot of not-for-resale units have ended up on there. Should you receive one of those, please let Sofaware know. It really messes up the NFR program for resellers.