We were impressed with the solid steel casing of this device, which reflects the enterprise quality build we have come to expect from IronPort.
The supplied documentation comes in the form of two hefty, but clearly written, manuals – one to guide users through simple deployments, another for more advanced users.
We were distressed by the initial startup fan noise, but this reduced to a more acceptable background hum. We were also pleased to note the presence of dual redundant power supplies.
The device is based on IronPort’s own hardened operating system, AsyncOS 4.5.5, with a feature base including anti-spam, anti-virus, mail-flow monitoring, message encryption and virtual gateway technology. New with the latest version is an enhanced overview page that gives users a useful snapshot of remote hosts connecting to the device. It also features enhanced anti-spam, AV and quarantine functions. For the first time, it boasts support for domain key signing.
Boot-up time for the OS was surprisingly long, but we will give it the benefit of the doubt because of the enterprise nature of the product. Web-based console users are initially prompted through a set-up wizard, which is very well-designed and intuitive.
Basic set-up tasks went smoothly, such as defining IP addresses and routing gateways and domain names from which the device’s inbound listener could accept mail. It was simple to define the filtering based on SenderBase reputation service scores. Out of the box there are three levels that can be set up here: conservative, moderate or aggressive. Users can also set their own custom levels.
We then went to the main user interface, which is pleasingly uncluttered and logically designed. After checking the status of the device through its monitor page, it was a simple matter to perform tasks, such as adding policies for incoming mail and checking the status of the anti-virus, anti-spam and other modules.
