Part of Futuresoft's DynaComm range of products, i:Filter uses packet-sniffing technology to detect web connections and boasts a database of seven million URLs.

To stop it from being overloaded on large networks, multiple network monitors can be installed. You may want to install one on each network segment, or logical VLan.

To get the most out of the i:Filter on a switched network you have to use port mirroring or Layer-4 routing based on destination port. We installed a single monitor onto our network.

Management is performed through a custom-built Windows application, which provides a neat structured view of the software's operation. Firing it up for the first time runs a quick setup wizard.

This configures the email settings for alerts and sets up the network monitors. Each monitor is set to scan defined subnets and i:Filter makes an educated guess based on the monitor's IP address.

Filtering is a matter of applying rules to users or groups of IP addresses. First, the components of the rules have to be populated. i:Filter provides access to this information through a tree menu of options.

Components include users, time intervals, file types and URL keywords. Once fully populated rules need to be created.

Rules are grouped into Rule Sets. A management console maintains multiple rule sets, but each monitor only runs one active rule set at a time. Individual rules follow the firewall pattern of who, when, and where.

The 'who' and 'when' parts of the rule are the components we created earlier. This leaves the 'where', which is taken care of by the extensive URL library. Updates to it are handled by the task scheduler, which can also retrieve log files and run one of the many reports.

If the automatic updates are not enough then new URL categories can be added or URLs added into existing categories.

i:Filter changed a lot since we last saw it and now offers a simple management platform and powerful distributed filtering.

Product Details
Contact FutureSoft 01260 292222
Web www.futuresoft.com
Price From £1,100

Installation 4/5
Performance 4/5
Management 4/5
Features 3/5
Value 4/5
Overall 4/5

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