Stonesoft Stonegate SSL-6000
Product Rating
Features:
Ease of Use:
Performance:
Documentation:
Support:
Value for Money:
Overall Rating:
For: The appliance includes identity management features
Against: Fewer SSL-based VPN features than similar products
Verdict: A solution with some interesting features, but missing a few where it counts the most
By
Justin Peltier
Oct 19, 2007 11:42 AM
Tags:
STONEGATE |
SSL-6000 |
Stonesoft offers an appliance for any size network. In this group test we looked at StoneGate SSL-6000 built to support up to 5000 concurrent users. The unit is a 3U rack mountable appliance delivered with three (two redundant) power supplies and is quite heavy.
StoneGate SSL-6000 shipped with two Ethernet interfaces. One interface is for management and the other is the terminator for the SSL-VPN traffic. The StoneGate product includes many components to identity management, including self -password reset, single sign-on and federation.
While the identity management features are nice, the SSL-VPN features are reduced when compared to other SSL-VPN products. The product offers access to web resources and tunnel resources
The installation of the StoneGate SSL-6000 was pretty straightforward during the initial setup. Changing the IP addresses was a breeze, and all configuration takes place through a web browser. The primary initial configuration interface is laid out well and is logical and easy to follow.
This initial setup configured the interfaces and basic network interfaces. Once this is finished, the administrator needs to point to a new port to perform secondary configuration, which includes the SSL VPN configuration. This interface is confusing and cumbersome. Many of the options inside the interface are not explained to the administrator.
The provided documentation consists of a printed application installation guide. This guide is similar to most getting started guides and it is extremely well-written. Documentation beyond the application install guide is available through the web configuration interface. These documents are not quite as well-written as the application installation guide, but are still effective.
Stonesoft offers two levels of support — basic and premium. Basic support is 8x5 and includes web submission of trouble tickets or phone support. Premium support is 24/7 and includes the same feature as the basic service with two-hour response time.
The pricing for the StoneGate SSL-6000 is US$32,435, which includes identity management features as well. Overall, it would seem that the product offers a lot of features. However, we found that many of the features we would expect in an SSL VPN product were missing, while additional features, such as identity management, abounded, raising the price. This makes the product an average value in our view.