This appliance deploys quite quickly with the help of a short setup wizard. This wizard helps get the product up and running with a basic configuration in place. However, after the setup wizard is complete, there is still a bit of configuration left to do. The remaining configuration and management is all done through the web-based interface, which we found to be a little awkward to navigate at first.
During our test, we noticed that a lot of our mock attacks were getting through the appliance, so we navigated to the base policy for the IPS and found the default for a great majority of the IPS signatures was to simply report versus block or reject. This could be a problem outside of the lab if an attacker manages to compromise the firewall of the appliance. They might be logged, but at that point the damage is already done.
Documentation included a short installation guide, as well as a full user guide. We found both guides to be easy to follow with many diagrams and clear instructions, but we would have liked to see more screen shots in the user guide.
Panda offers 24/7 support as part of its total protection package. Customers can access phone and email support, as well as an area on the website with a knowledge base and other resources.
At a price just under $1,900 - with 50 user "total protection" licenses for 12 months, including 24/7 support - we find this tool to be a good value for the money. While some of the configuration out of the box needs quite a bit of tweaking, this product does offer a lot of features for the cost.