Advantage of personal firewall and report problems

[Stevehewitt]

Hey everyone.

The system we are using is Windows XP Pro wks stations and Win2k servers. I am having probs with the personal ISA firewall client software. It doesn't like the Antivirus we have and won't allow updates so i've taken it off. Is there any big advantage of the firewall client?

Also, I know that the reports can tell me who is using the internet the most, how much, the most popular websites etc. but how can I find out what user is using which sites?

Cheers in advance, Steve Hewitt
Systems Manager

 

[DelboySi]

My advice would be if you don't need the firewall client for a specific reason then don't install it.

If your users are just browsing etc, run them as SecureNat client or web proxy clients. i.e. give them a default gateway and a dns server and leave Internet Explorer blank (SecureNat) or configure Internet Explorer (Web Proxy).

To interrogate proxy logs in more detail you will need a 3rd party product like:

LogAnalyser

http://www.burstek.com

ProxyInspector

http://www.proxyinspector.com

There are many more....

Hope this helps... ;-)