The Panda GateDefender Integra is comprised of a firewall that filters both on the static network level and the dynamic application level; an IPS that scans IP, ICMP, TCP and UDP protocols; a VPN that can be set up to allow SSL, IPsec, PPTP and L2TP tunnels; a signature- and heuristic-based anti-malware engine; a content and web filter; and anti-spam protection.
We found this product to be quite simple to install and configure. The initial installation is done by connecting the device to the network and launching a web-based console, which brings up a setup wizard. At the completion of the wizard, Integra is running with a basic policy and is ready for advanced configuration.
The web-based interface for this tool is simple, but confusing at first. We found it took a few minutes of clicking around before we felt comfortable in doing advanced configuration tasks. With that said, once we got the hang of how to move around the interface, we found it to be quite intuitive to use. We also found policies to be quite flexible with many configurable options.
Documentation included an installation guide and a PDF user guide. The installation guide provided the steps to get the appliance connected to the network through running the setup wizard. The user guide took over from there and provided a decent amount of detail on advanced configuration and using product features. We did find the user guide to focus more on icons rather than screen shots as illustration. We think a few screen shots could have been helpful as well.
Panda offers both phone and email support Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. EST at no cost to customers. There is also web-based support available at no cost in the form of a knowledge base and other product resources.
At a price starting at $1,899 for the appliance and total protection licenses for 50 users for a year, we find this product to be a good value for the money. This appliance has some excellent protection functionality for the price.
