Endian Frequently Asked Questions

Table of Contents [hide]

Licensing
Upgrades
Hardware requirements
Delivery
Warranty
Community Edition
Trial version & sample units
Support
Questions about Endian features
Presentation - Company and Product Overview
Endian on Facebook.com
Useful links

Licensing

How is the Endian Firewall Software licensed? It mentions 250/500 users - is this total users, total computers or concurrent connections? Endian Firewall Software have a licensing based on the number of Users in your network. "Users" includes workstations, clients, servers and devices that communicate through the firewall to reach the Internet. It also includes VPN connections from remote VPN clients ("road warriors") and from remote VPN gateways (each remote gateway counts as one user). The number of Users is monitored but not limited. If your network exceeds the number of Users the Software Appliance will continue to work, but you'll be notified that the maintenance subscription needs to be upgraded and aligned with the new number of Users. If the number of unique Users is exceeded for more than one month the maintenance subscription will be suspended, disabling access to Endian Network, Updates and Endian support services.
What happens if I do not renew the Endian maintenance? Should you decide not to renew your maintenance, your Endian Firewall will remain fully functional; however, you will also lose access to Endian updates/upgrades and all new Endian Firewall feature sets.
How much are maintenance renewals and upgrades? For Endian Firewall Software, it is the same price. For Firewall appliances, the cost is the maintenance only. This includes access to upgrades when released. For renewal prices, see the Endian maintenance renewal page.
Is it possible to upgrade from Trial Key to Commercial Key without having to re-install or re-configure the Endian? Yes this is done through the Endian Network. Endian must be told the system key code and the kind of license/maintenance you would like to purchase and then they apply this update. Your Endian will then be automatically updated.
What happens for an existing Endian Firewall Software customer when they exceed their allocated licenses? Do they get an error message? Email alert? Internet stops working? If the user limit is exceeded Endian Network will notify an alert message to the customer and to Endian team, too. Nothing will stop, but the customer will be required to upgrade the license. If the number of Users is exceeded for more than one month the maintenance subscription will be suspended, disabling access to Endian Network, Updates and Endian support services. Please see http://www.endian.com/en/community/comparsion/#users
If a I want to upgrade my Endian Firewall Software license to include more users do I need to install a new license? Or does Endian simply upgrade my existing license remotely (and no action is required by me other than to pay difference in cost)? Exactly, the license will be remotely upgraded by Endian Team once payment is received.
The hardware appliances don't seem to be licensed per user or computer. Can they be used with any number of users or computers? Yes. There is no licensing limit, only the hardware capacity limitations.

Upgrades

How often are new versions of Endian Firewall released? Endian Firewall Community Edition is released every 6 to 12 months. Endian Firewall is released every 12 to 18 months. You can view the progress of new releases on the Endian roadmap, http://bugs.endian.it/roadmap_page.php
What is the process of upgrading Endian Firewall Community Edition to a newer release? To upgrade Endian Firewall Community Edition:
1. Backup the existing configuration data using the backup tool
2. Install the new release over the existing installation (this will completely wipe the previous installation)
3. Restore the configuration from backup
Is it possible to upgrade Endian Firewall Community Edition to Endian Firewall Software? Yes, this is possible. It requires that a backup of the configuration be performed of the Endian Firewall Community Edition. Then Endian Firewall Software is installed and the backed up configuration is then restored.
What is the process of upgrading Endian Firewall Software and Endian Firewall Appliances to a newer release? Endian Firewall Software and Hardware Appliances can be upgraded, in-place (RPM-based upgrade) which does not require a complete software re-installation.
If a machine is running 2.1 - can we do an upgrade via the Endian Network to 2.2? What are the risks? If not, how is it done? Does Endian have to do it? Contact Endian support to have this done. This is done via the Endian Network simply clicking on the Switch Channel button. Most of the times the process is smooth with no problems at all, but in few cases it may happen the system gets slow. Depending on the configuration complexity the upgrade process may fail and must be repeated. So, just for precaution we strongly recommend you to:
1. Schedule an appointment with Endian support. You must be available and have physical access to the Endian being upgraded
2. Backup the Endian configuration
3. Download (from the Endian network) the Endian restore image for USB key. To be used just in case the upgrade fails.

Hardware requirements

What are the minimum hardware requirements for Endian Firewall Community Edition or Endian Firewall Software? See this page Hardware For Endian Firewall Software or Endian Firewall Community Edition.

Delivery

What is the delivery time frame for Endian Firewall Appliances? Each order is shipped directly from the local Australian distributor. Once payment is received, delivery is usually 2 business days for CBD addresses or 3 to 5 business days for other addresses. Orders are shipped using Australian Air Express and can be tracked on-line via their track'n trace service.

Warranty

What is the warranty period and process for the Endian Firewall Appliances? The default warranty period is 24 months warranty. Advanced support extends the warranty period for the duration of support coverage.

Community Edition

Are there any user limits for the Endian Community Edition? Endian Firewall Community has no user limitation at all, it only depends on the performance of the hardware it runs on. Although we recommend to use Endian Firewall Community only in small network environments that aren't critical for your business, due to the lack of support and regular updates.
Where can I download the Endian Firewall Community Edition? Download from http://www.endian.com/en/community/download/
What is the difference between Endian Firewall Community Edition and Endian Firewall Appliances? Please see, http://www.endian.com/en/community/comparison/
Are software updates provided for Endian Firewall Community Edition? Software updates are not available for the Endian Firewall Community Edition, updating the software requires an upgrade to the next release. Endian Firewall Software and Endian Firewall Appliances do not have this limitation.

Trial version & sample units

Is it possible to have a trial version of the Endian Firewall Software? Yes, Agileware can provide a 30 day Evaluation License for Endian Firewall Software. This Evaluation License can then be upgraded to the Paid License if you decide to purchase - so no need to re-install the software. Request your Evaluation License by contacting Agileware.
Do you provide sample units for the Endian Firewall Appliance? Yes, but only on a case by case basis. Please contact Agileware if you require a sample unit.

Support

What are the support options available for Endian Firewall Software / Appliance? Please see http://www.endian.com/en/support/maintenance/packages/
What happens when support and maintenance expires? Please see http://www.endian.com/en/support/maintenance/faqs/. When maintenance expires you do not receive updates for the Endian or are able to request support.

Questions about Endian features

What software is used to provide the web content filtering? DansGuardian is used for web content filtering.
Does Endian anti-spam provide spam learning? Yes, has a feature which uses IMAP to poll mail boxes for spam learning.
Proxy Caching, can we "pre load" the proxy cache with selected sites that students at our school would regularly visit, or that teachers have indicated to us that students will be accessing? (Will teachers be able to do this?) If the feature is not in 2.2 will it be in 2.3 or 3? This "feature" is not in 2.2 nor will it be in 2.3 or 3. A site will be loaded into the cache whenever it will be visited for the first time. Outside of the Endian features, you or us could develop a script to load these sites, and schedule it. It can be run on the Endian, or on a client machine/server. There may already be such utilities available on the net.
Quota management tools, can we keep track of the amount (Mb) of downloads that staff/students are amassing? If the feature is not in 2.2 will it be in 2.3 or 3? This information can be found in the Logs->Proxy->HTTP report section of the Endian.
Log Records, will we have usable (ie human readable) reports that inform us of when certain sites are visited and by which user? Will these log files be searchable for usernames or dodgy web sites? In the Logs->Proxy->HTTP report section of the Endian, you can find detailed information about access time and users (searchable - yes, but only with the Ctrl+F function of your browser).
Log Records, will they be user initiated reports or can we set up an automatic process where, once certain rules are breached, a report is generated for that group or individual? Everything is logged automatically, the reports are generated once every day - it is only possible to turn it on or off. For these reports we use Sarg. You can find an example here: http://sarg.sourceforge.net/squid-reports/2004Aug06-2004Sep13/index.html You can download these reports and run them through some other processing.
Bandwidth Throttling, will we have the ability to slow a particular user's internet session based upon their past (dodgy) behaviour. That is we want them to be able to access the web, but not be able to download at the rate that they have been. Unfortunately such a feature is not available.