The ServGate EdgeForce Accel is a 1U high box, which targets itself primarily at medium to large size enterprises. It runs a hardened version of Linux and it offers 3Gb Ethernet interfaces (internal, external and demilitarized zone) and an onboard Broadcom security processor to handle VPN sessions.
The EdgeForce ships as a basic unit and offers a variety of upgrade features, which are switched on by purchasing and installing optional license keys.
Setup is carried out from a management workstation via a web interface. It should be noted here that the ServGate is one of the few appliances to offer a management tool for Mac OS as well as Windows, making it a lot more attractive for multi-platform environments. The management interface is clean and easy to navigate, making the setup process a breeze, while the documentation includes a comprehensive walkthrough in setting up your basic policies and getting you to configure your stateful packet inspection firewall policies.
If you have the module enabled, you can set up SpamAssassin to examine incoming and outgoing POP3 and SMTP mail, while the appliance's anti-virus module uses McAfee's engine to scan SMTP, web-based email and FTP files for viruses. The addition of Websense also enables you to filter internet traffic.
In terms of VPN options, ServGate allows you to set up VPN's using either point-to-point IP tunnelling or IPSec. IPSec functionality includes Internet Key Exchange with a pre-shared key, an RSA signature, certificates, or manual key exchange – again, all managed through a clean interface.
You can log either to the firewall or to a remote logserver, although some logs are only available remotely on the basic model of appliance, as well as monitor traffic dynamically with a WebTrends server. The device's extra hard drive module also allows for a more comprehensive logging service.
