Which version should I upgrade to? - 5.7/6.7 or 6.0?

jdohrman · ‎05-06-2009

Hi,

For the first time, IronPort currently has two WSA releases available for preview*. As there is no upgrade path available between those releases, this is a fork in the release path.

This obviously raises the question which version you should upgrade to. As I've seen some discussion around this in other posts and as this will become even more important once we hit general availability, I'll try to shed some light on this here.

So, which version is right for you?
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* The two releases have a different focus and feature set:
Marconi (5.7 on the WSA, 6.7 on the SMA) introduces Centralized Policy Management and Delegated Administration of your Web Security Appliances via a Security Management Appliance (M-Series).
* Aurora (6.0) introduces native FTP, Data Loss Prevention / IronPort Data Security, support for AD 2008 and other authentication and policy enhancements.

Depending on your needs, one of them will be more appealing than the other. For now, you will have to decide which feature set you want to use in the short term until we release a version of AsyncOS for Web / Management that combines both feature sets.

Important facts to keep in mind:
* There is no upgrade path from 5.7 to 6.0 or vice versa on the WSA. Once you decide to use the functionality of one of the releases, you will only be able to use the features of the other release after an upgrade to AsyncOS for Web 6.3 and AsyncOS for Management 6.7.3 which is scheduled for Q4 2009.
* ICCM v1 is no longer available on AsyncOS for Management 6.7 so if you want to manage your Web Security Appliances via ICCM v1 do not upgrade your SMA to 6.7.
* AsyncOS 6.7 for Management supports Centralized Tracking / Reporting for your Email Security Appliances running AsyncOS 6.5 for Email or newer only. Please ensure that your Email Security Appliances run 6.5 or newer or upgrade accordingly if you want to use them with your SMA.

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* 'preview' means that the release is not generally available yet (slow roll-out) but can be provisioned to anybody interested in the new features or fixes available in the new release.

jowolfer · ‎05-27-2009

Features or Management... I vote features!

Tim Jackson · ‎06-18-2009

Any ETA on general availability of 6.0?

jowolfer · ‎06-19-2009

tjackson,

I would recommend 6.0, unless you have specific managment reasons and own an M-series appliance. The 6.0 GA code should be available within the next few weeks (unnoffical data of course :) )

Tim Jackson · ‎06-19-2009

Thanks Josh. We are trying to replace an existing proxy used for FTP proxy so we are anxiously awaiting this release.

On a side note, is it possible to FTP via a command prompt through the IronPort FTP proxy? If so, what would the syntax be?

Thanks,
Tim

jowolfer · ‎06-23-2009

You should be able to just tell your client to ftp directly to the proxy and then give the appropriate FTP info, such as the actual FTP server to connect to.

I'm pretty sure that the exact details are in the User Guide. I'll check the guide shortly.

If you are doing authentication with FTP proxy, you will have to enter your credentials in the special format that is specified in the FTP configuration.