Announcing: Forefront Threat Management Gateway, Medium Business Edition

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I am pleased to announce that the first version of the new Forefront Threat Management Gateway (TMG) has been released to manufacturing as part of the Windows Essential Business Server 2008 (EBS) release. As I first blogged in April of this year, Forefront TMG is a new era for the ISA Server product line. It is taking us and our customers into new and innovative protection directions based on the ever-increasing threats we are seeing on the Internet today.

Forefront TMG, Medium Business Edition is fully integrated in Windows Essential Business Server and installed by default. One of the unique capabilities of this edition is the simplified setup and configuration – without taking away the ability for customers or value added service providers to provide the customization or control they may require for their specific environments. We took a specific approach in this release by asking the administrator what he/she wants to achieve, not how to do it. The end result is a server pre-configured with best practices for the most common security and access needs including Internet access, remote access and common firewall rules.

Not only does Forefront TMG include a fully featured and highly rated corporate firewall capability, but it adds a Unified Threat Management (UTM) capability to the EBS installation. It truly provides a comprehensive, all-in-one integrated edge security solution, for both the headquarters and the branch offices. The real value comes through the tight integration of the different UTM components, as well as with the other applications and solutions encompassing EBS. The integrated anti-virus subscription services provide administrative relief to IT professionals from having to constantly monitor the security threats and changing edge policies. The “Am I Secure?” page provides an easy, at a glance view of the security state and statistics of the system avoiding the need for complex understanding and expertise to provide protection for the business.

As our software, hardware and appliance partners announce exciting value–add offerings, I will keep the community informed. In addition, I will be announcing future details around the public beta for the next edition of TMG later this year on this blog. I think you will be excited and surprised and certainly well worth the wait when we announce. Stay tuned to this channel for continual updates!

 

David B. Cross

Product Unit Manager