Review: Proventia Network Mail Security

For: Highly customisable and easy to use at a low cost of ownership
Against: Documentation could use a bit of simplification and organisation
Verdict: A very strong product for any size organisation. For its policy engine and ease of use, we designate this our Recommended product

The appliance can filter, among other criteria, by sender, receiver or time frame.

It can also use several content analysis modules, including number patterns, spam, phishing and offensive content. For filtering capability and granularity, this product is among the most complete we've seen.

Ease of setup is a hallmark of the Proventia Network Mail Security System. This product was almost completely ready when it was pulled out of the box. The easy-to-follow setup assistant puts on the finishing touches and is run via a web browser.

Once the appliance is up and running, further configuration takes place through the Java-based web interface. This interface is simple to navigate and well-organised, with an intuitive category tree. Policy configuration is also a doddle, requiring just a few clicks of the mouse.

This appliance contains a high level of filter performance features. Policies can be set up to be as granular or as broad as required easily, with little chance of error.

The filter database is very large, consisting of more than 63 million entries, which are based on over 5 billion URLs, images and spammers. The Proventia appliance has an extremely powerful policy engine.

The appliance allows end users to create and control their own "allow and block" lists, giving personalised control over spam preferences.

The documentation provided with the device consists of an easy-to-follow getting started card that details the appliance's ports and interfaces on one side and illustrates the initial configuration steps on the other.

The user guide is also supplied, and this contains all the necessary information and instructions for using the product. We found the user guide to be very descriptive, but cumbersome and difficult to follow.

ISS offers phone and email support. There is also a support portal on the company's website that users can access for documentation, downloads and online support.

At a price of £7,240 (A$17,679)the Proventia Network Mail Security System is good value for almost any size environment

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