This product is available as software and as an appliance. We tested the software on a Windows 2003 Server installation running on a 1.26GHz Pentium III processor with 1GB RAM and 152 GB of disk storage.
Installation presented few problems, once we had read the installation documents carefully. After initial configuration, it is almost automatic, with just some administration account configuration details required at the end.
The system is administered through a browser interface, which can be set to use an SSL encrypted link, if required.
The email system is essentially a group of seven services dealing with functions such as database handling, spam filtering, archiving and mail distribution. It uses queues to manage mail processing, with the option to configure extra queues to handle any special requirements.
The system does not provide any real-time graphs of activities, but does have a comprehensive, detailed reporting system covering all aspects of operation. This fits with its intended role, where the need is for management reporting and performance analysis, rather than real-time systems monitoring.
It does provide an overview of its current status, with details of the email system services and the numbers of messages processed.
There is a comprehensive set of anti-spam and anti-virus features, which can be automatically updated, and it applies them to all mail passing through it. This will obviously appeal to ISPs, but also to enterprises with compliance issues or which simply wish to stop their systems being misused.
Apart from the core Dynamic Anti-Spam checking system, a number of other checks can be applied before an email reaches its destination. Attachment size limits, originating address, real-time Blackhole List processing and rule-based policies can all be applied, and the mail can also be vetted for viruses before being passed on or sent to a quarantine queue for later disposal.
