A lot of attention has recently been paid to the risks
associated with always-on, high-speed Internet connections. Since these
connections make telecommuting economical and feasible, companies are
scrambling to find the most effective security solutions for their expanding
Local Area Networks (LANs).
General Magic provides voice-enabled services and
technology. Tom Schreiber oversees the management and installation of
SonicWALLs at employees' home offices. Schreiber protects his home network
with SonicWALL, and many other telecommuters have had SonicWALLs installed.
Schreiber explained that General Magic has employed a VPN solution since they
began having telecommuters. They had originally worked with Compatible
Systems’ VPN solution, but now wanted to have the protection for their
employees without having to deal with Linux scripts.
A VAR introduced Tom to SonicWALL. After
thorough testing, Schreiber was impressed with the overall solution, as well as
the specific VPN functionality SonicWALL offered. General Magic now has a
SonicWALL PRO connected via VPN to telecommuters operating their home offices
behind SonicWALLs. “SonicWALL with VPN is not as cheap as some software
solutions,” Schreiber notes, “but I also don’t have to deal with the software
issues! So, the cost is certainly justified. After I configure the units here,
the end-users install them and the SonicWALL operation is transparent. We have
had few user errors.”
Most of General Magic’s telecommuters connect
to the local Lotus Notes database, an exchange server. “AppleTalk over IP has
worked wonderfully,” Schreiber added. “As well as WINS connectivity. The SOHO
hub has also been helpful, since most of our telecommuters have two or three
machines.”
To learn more about the
SonicWALL firewall and its components and features,
please visit our web site dedicated to SonicWall by clicking on the button
below.
