Product Reviews

Marshal has always promoted its message-security software as a superior alternative to appliance-based solutions, but it now steps into line and, in this exclusive, review we take a look at its latest e10000.

At its foundation, the e10000 runs Windows Server 2003, and this all-Supermicro 1U rack platform provides a solid hardware specification that can handle it. So far, so good, but the modular design of the MailMarshal doesn't lend itself to a plug-and-go installation. The appliance can run in standalone mode or as part of an array, but, either way, you need to load the Array Manager software on a separate Windows system. It also requires an SQL database and will load MSDE2000 if needed. Next, point a browser at the appliance and run through a quick-start wizard to set up the mail network interface, update the virus signatures and give contact details of the system running the Array Manager utility.

The appliance is managed remotely via the Configurator utility and makes extensive use of policies, which are applied to users and groups to check all inbound and outbound mail. Policies are listed in order of processing priority and

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each contains a number of rules that are also carried out in strict order. Plenty of predefined policies are active by default, and you have a connection policy at the top of the pile that controls junk mail and spam, and applies a range of sender blacklists to incoming messages.

Antivirus measures come courtesy of McAfee and are included as standard - the software version lets you choose your own vendor. Next up are attachment management policies, to block file types and sizes, and then compliance policies that use XML files to look out for sensitive content. Introduced in SMTP 2006, the CountryCensor component is also implemented as an XML file, which you can customise by adding codes for countries from which you don't want to receive mail.

Policies can be applied to specific users and groups, and the appliance integrates with LDAP, so you can download this information from your AD or NDS servers. Messages can be scanned for undesirable content and Marshal provides its TextSensor scripts, which each contain a huge range of predefined keywords that can also be easily customised.

Selected folders are used to quarantine suspected spam, and administrators can use the separate Console utility to view them and either release or delete them. Administrators can also use a browser to manage the quarantine process, but this is yet another separate component that doesn't run on the appliance.

By its nature, the MailMarshal SMTP software isn't an ideal candidate for an appliance, as a number of components must be run on separate systems. Even so, the e10000 is easy enough to install and we found it provides a powerful policy-based message security solution that can cope easily with increased future demand.