Usage Scenarios: Microsoft ISA Standard, ISA Enterprise and IAG based Appliances
ISA Server 2006 Appliance (mISA or mISAE Series) provides value to IT managers, network administrators, and information security professionals who are concerned about the security, performance, manageability, or reduced cost of network operations. ISA Server 2006 Appliance (mISA or mISAE Series) can help you:
- Defend Against External and Internal Web-Based Threats. ISA Server 2006 Appliance (mISA or mISAE Series) was engineered to deliver stronger security to manage and protect your networks.
- Securely Publish Content for Remote Access. ISA Server 2006 Appliance (mISA or mISAE Series) helps streamline the implementation providing security for corporate applications accessed over the Internet.
- Connect and Secure Branch Offices. ISA Server 2006 Appliance (mISA or mISAE Series) provides a robust way to securely expand corporate networks reducing network costs by leveraging existing network connections.
1. Defending Your Environment Against External and Internal Internet-Based Threats
Businesses need to eliminate the damaging effects of malware and attackers through a comprehensive set of tools for scanning and blocking harmful content, files, and Web sites.
ISA Server 2006 Appliance (mISA or mISAE Series) can help organizations protect their environments from internally and externally originating Internet-based threats. With a hybrid proxy-firewall architecture, deep content inspection, granular policies, and comprehensive alerting and monitoring capabilities, ISA Server 2006 Appliance (mISA or mISAE Series) makes it easier to manage and protect your network. Read more about Internet Access Protection Internet Access Protection with ISA Server 2006 Appliance (mISA or mISAE Series).
 Microsoft's ISA Vendor List : |
Large number of 3rd Party applications are supported by ISA Server 2006 Appliance (mISA or mISAE Series) |
| Appliance Bundled Software List : |
nAppliance bundles a variety of 3rd Paty Web Filters (Webwasher, Websense, Surfcontrol, Burstek, GFI) , Anti-Virus (Kaspersky), QoS and Similar Optional Software Packages |
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Smaller Size Deployment (mISA):
- ISA Server Appliance Series Type: mISA Series (more)
- Disadvantage (Fail-Over): No support for Active-Active Failover Appliance Configuration for High Availability
- Appliance Cost: Low. $3K+ for an Entry Level Model - 500W (more)
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Medium-Large Size Deployment (mISAE):
- Based On ISA Server Appliance: mISAE Series (more)
- Advantages (Fail-Over): Support for Active-Active Failover Appliance Configuration for High Availability, Unlimited Scalability through NLB Clustering
- Appliance Cost: High. $10K+ for an Entry Level Model - 1500E (more)
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2. Securely Publishing Your Content for Remote Access
Businesses need to provide employees and partners with secure and appropriate remote access to applications, documents, and data from any PC or device.
ISA Server 2006 Appliance (mISA or mISAE Series) enables organizations to make their Exchange, SharePoint, and other Web application servers accessible in a more secure way to remote users outside the corporate network. By pre-authenticating users before they gain access to any published servers, inspecting even encrypted traffic at the application layer in a stateful manner, and providing automated publishing tools, ISA Server 2006 Appliance (mISA or mISAE Series) makes it easier to provide security for corporate applications accessed over the Internet. Read more about Secure Remote Access with ISA Server 2006 Appliance (mISA or mISAE Series).
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Smaller Size Deployment (mISA):
- ISA Server Appliance Series Type:
mISA Series (more)
- Client Type: Windows VPN Client Built-In, PPTP/L2TP
- Disadvantage (SSL/VPN): No-SSL VPN, NAC (End-Point Security) or Granular Resource Access Built-In
- Disadvantage (Fail-Over): No support for Active-Active Failover Appliance Configuration for High Availability
- Appliance Cost: Low. $3K+ for an Entry Level Model - 500W (more)
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Medium-Large Size Deployment (mISAE):
- ISA Server Appliance Series Type:
mISAE Series (more)
- Client Type:
Windows VPN Client Built-In, PPTP/L2TP
- Disadvantages (SSL/VPN): No-SSL VPN, NAC (End-Point Security) or Granular Resource Access Built-In
- Advantages (Fail-Over): Support for Active-Active Failover Appliance Configuration for High Availability, Unlimited Scalability through NLB Clustering (more)
- Appliance Cost: High. $10K+ for an Entry Level Model - 1500E (more)
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Medium-Large Size Deployment (Additional mIAG Appliance):
- IAG Server Appliance Series Type:
mIAG Series (more)
- Advantages (SSL/VPN): Clientless SSL VPN Access, NAC (End-Point Security) and Granular Resource Access Built-In
- Advantages (Fail-Over): Support for Active-Passive Failover Appliance Configuration, Unlimited Scalability through Resonate Clustering
- Appliance Cost: Requires additional dedicated Appliance, $4K+ for an Entry Level Model - 500i (more)
Note: IAG is a standalone appliance, it is not available as software add-on option with a mISA or mISAE as a single-appliance package (more) |
3. Connecting and Securing Your Branch Offices
Businesses need to connect remote-site branch offices to their corporate headquarters, provide security-enhanced Internet access from branch offices and utilize limited bandwidth more efficiently.
Organizations can use ISA Server 2006 Appliance (mISA or mISAE Series) to connect to and secure their branch offices, while efficiently utilizing network bandwidth. By providing HTTP compression, caching of content (including software updates) and site-to-site virtual private network (VPN/IPSec) capabilities integrated with application-layer filtering, ISA Server 2006 Appliance (mISA or mISAE Series) makes it easier to securely expand corporate networks. Read more about Branch Office Security with ISA Server 2006 Appliance (mISA or mISAE Series).
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Smaller Size Deployment (mISA):
- ISA Server Appliance Series Type:
mISA Series (more)
- Disadvantage (Policy-Management): No Centralized Management, Configuration Sets are stored locally on each of the appliances, managed through manual export and import of policies.
- Disadvantage (Fail-Over): No support for Active-Active Failover Appliance Configuration for High Availability
- Appliance Cost: Low. Two Appliances 6K+ ($3Kx2) for an Entry Level Model - 500W (more)
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Medium-Large Size Deployment (mISAE):
- ISA Server Appliance Series Type:
mISAE Series (more)
- Advantages (Policy-Management):
Centralized Management of policies and easily deployed over large number of branch office, Easiest deployment for large number of branch office appliances.
- Advantages (Fail-Over): Support for Active-Active Failover Appliance Configuration for High Availability , Unlimited Scalability through NLB Clustering for both mISAE/B (Branch) appliances and, mISAE (Enterprise) appliance
- Appliance Cost: High. Requires two appliances. $10K+ for an Entry Level Model - 1500E (Corporate Data Center) and $5K+ for an Entry Level Model - 1100B (Branch Office); Total $15K+(more)
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Additional Information: Difference Between mISA and mISAE Differences between mISA (based on Microsoft ISA Server Standard Edition) and
mISAE (based on Microsoft ISA Server Enterprise Edition). Following table compares and contrasts the features between two editions.
| Features |
mISA ISA Standard Edition |
mISAE Enterprise Edition
|
| ISA System Scalability: |
|
|
Networks |
|
Unlimited, Adds Enterprise Networks |
Scalability: Scale Up CPU/RAM |
Upto 4 CPU's and 4GB of RAM |
Unlimited (per windows server 2003 operating system) |
Scalability: Scale Out (Clustering) |
Single Server, No Clustering |
Large Array of Servers, Up to 32 nodes through Network Load Balancing (NLB) Cluster |
Network Caching Support |
|
Unlimited (through Cache Array Routing Protocol (CARP))
|
| Appliance Availability: |
|
|
Microsoft Windows NLB
(Network Load Balancing)
|
Not Supported, Single Server, No NLB Clustering |
Yes, NLB Clustering Integrated |
| ISA Manageability: |
|
|
| Policy Management |
|
NLB Cluster Array and Enterprise policies use Active Directory Application Mode (ADAM) |
| Branch Office Policy Management |
Yes, Manual (through the manual import and export policy) |
NLB Cluster Array and Enterprise policies use Active Directory Application Mode (ADAM)
Centralized ISA CSS (ISA Configuration Storage Server) Policy Management for Branches and easy deployment |
| Monitoring/Alerting |
Single, Individual Single-Server monitoring console
MOM (Microsoft Operations Manager Management Pack Support |
Centralized, Multi-Server Monitoring Console
MOM (Microsoft Operations Manager Management Pack Support |
| Support for Multiple Networks |
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Templates |
Additional Links:
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