Billion Biguard S3000

Did February’s snow stop you or your staff getting to work? Remote access would have helped and it doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive, Billion’s Biguard S3000 offers a combination of conventional IPsec virtual private network (VPN) and SSL-based remote access in an easy-to-deploy, self-contained appliance.

The S3000 sits towards the top of the Biguard family aimed at companies with 150 or more employees. It has dual Gigabit Wan ports supporting both load balancing and failover in the event of a service going down.

It also has a built-in eight-port Gigabit switch for Lan connectivity, with one port that can be configured as a demilitarized zone (DMZ). Port based VLan and QoS prioritisation are also supported.

Designed to be rackmounted, the appliance is 1U in height and can be deployed either behind an existing firewall or standalone, with a comprehensive stateful packet inspection (SPI) firewall which is another key product feature.

Maximum throughput is 60Mbits/sec enabling the S3000 to handle up to 10 simultaneous remote SSL sessions, upgradeable to 50 if required, and 30 IPSec connections. On the downside there is only one integrated power supply, but you have the option of automatic failover to a second, backup appliance if you’re prepared to pay for it.

Setup and day-to-day management are done via a browser using a Java-based tool with optional SNMP support if preferred. We opted for the web route, with a quick-start menu that took us through the basic setup, configuring both the Wan connections and enough of the SSL VPN settings to enable users to connect remotely.

It wasn’t particularly difficult but the interface isn’t the easiest we have used and technical knowledge is assumed. You will also need to delve beyond the quick-start options to take full advantage of what the S3000 has to offer and companies with little or no in-house expertise may need to have the product professionally installed.

There is no need for special client software or setup, as the necessary encryption can be provided by SSL-enabled browsers such as Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. All the end user has to do is point a browser at a customisable web portal and log in to gain access to remote Lan resources.

There is a choice of authentication here, using a built-in database or external Windows Active Directory, domain, Ldap or Radius server. Also available is support for Biguard OTP (One Time Password) using chip-based tokens (from £48 ex Vat for two) to provide two-factor authentication using dynamically generated Pin codes as well as an ordinary password.

Once logged into the web portal remote users can access the network in three main ways: an Explorer-like ‘Network Place’ browser plus network and transport extenders, the extenders delivering the kind of seamless access provided by conventional VPN clients.

Proxies to run specific applications can also be accessed via the portal with simple controls over what users are allowed to see and do once connected.

It’s all quite simple, but some user training will be required, as well as a fair amount of behind-the-scenes configuration to get it to work the way you want.

Price could be an issue with plenty of alternatives available for less, both from Billion and others. In its favour the S3000 is well specified, easy to manage and the extra money worth paying if you want to handle more than a handful of remote users.