Learn more about Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server 2006 by reading answers to frequently asked questions. Discover how ISA Server 2006 can help you secure your application infrastructure, streamline your network, and safeguard your IT environment.
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Q. What is ISA Server 2006?
A.
ISA Server 2006 is the integrated edge security gateway that helps protect IT environments from Internet-based threats, while providing users with fast and secure remote access to applications and data. ISA Server 2006 provides value to IT managers, network administrators, and information security professionals who are concerned about the security, performance, manageability, or reduced cost of network operations. ISA Server 2006 can help you:
Securely Publish Content for Remote Access. ISA Server 2006 helps streamline the implementation providing security for corporate applications accessed over the Internet.
Connect and Secure Branch Offices. ISA Server 2006 provides a robust way to securely expand corporate networks, reducing network costs by leveraging existing network connections.
Defend Against External and Internal Web-Based Threats. ISA Server 2006 was engineered to deliver stronger security to manage and protect your networks.
Q. What's new in Microsoft ISA Server 2006?
A.
ISA Server 2006 demonstrates the Microsoft commitment to provide solutions that maximize customer security and productivity. To achieve this goal, Microsoft is continuing its product innovation for next-generation security as well as working with a broad ecosystem of security partners to offer complete end-to-end solutions. ISA Server 2006 provides a comprehensive set of publishing tools for Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services, streamlined security and connectivity for branch offices, as well as network edge protection. Read about the new features of ISA Server 2006.
Q. Who should consider Microsoft ISA Server 2006?
A.
Enterprises are facing an onslaught of increasingly targeted and sophisticated attacks on their networks. Protecting corporate resources at their headquarters as well as at their branch offices, while providing seamless access for legitimate business functions, requires a sophisticated and multifunctional edge gateway. ISA Server follows a scenario-based design, ideal for mid-market to enterprise environments, with single or multiple sites, and varied access and publishing needs. Businesses in verticals, such as financial services, retail, or government/public sector, will see great benefits in deploying ISA Server to help protect Internet clients and make internal resources available to remote employees.
Q. What is the pricing and availability for ISA Server 2006?
Q. Where can I get more information about ISA Server 2006?
A.
A selection of evaluation tools and material is available here.
Q. Will I receive a free upgrade?
A.
Customers who subscribe to Software Assurance at the time the final product releases will be eligible to upgrade their licenses to ISA Server 2006 at no cost (media/ shipping and handling fees may apply). Other customers with enterprise or volume licensing agreements should contact either their reseller or their Microsoft account representative.
Q. What are the specific feature upgrades?
A.
Integrated Security: ISA Server 2006 provides improved security through integration with Microsoft application infrastructure and Windows services.
Increase security and deployment flexibility for Web application servers through enhanced multifactor authentication (smartcards, one-time passwords), flexible integration with Active Directory (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol), and customizable forms-based authentication for almost any Web application and client device.
Easily integrate ISA Server with your existing authentication infrastructure through enhanced authentication delegation (including NTLM, Kerberos, and SecurID), and gain more access control with improved session management that detects non-user traffic through automatic idle-based timeouts.
Maintain secure branch office infrastructure using Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) caching to accelerate the deployment of software updates and keep remote computers protected.
Help defend your network with enhanced flood resiliency features for event handling and monitoring that provide better resistance to denial-of-service (DoS) and distributed-denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks.
Mitigate the effects infected machines have on your network with enhanced worm resiliency through simplified client IP alert pooling and connection quotas.
Enhanced attack remediation through comprehensive alert triggers and responses can quickly notify administrators of network problems.
Efficient Management: Reduced TCO via simplified deployment and management tools.
Simplify the process of securely publishing Exchange, Windows SharePoint Services, and other Web servers with automated wizards for multiple sites and enhanced certificate administration to avoid configuration errors.
Web publishing load balancing makes it easy to deploy entire farms of Web servers behind ISA Server deployments using session- and IP-based affinity with automatic out-of-service detection.
Easily deploy and configure ISA Servers in branch offices by using answer files on removable media for unattended installation and with automated virtual private network (VPN) wizards to streamline connectivity.
Manage remote ISA Servers more effectively with faster propagation of enterprise policies, reduced server requirements, and low-bandwidth optimizations.
Log throttling and control of memory consumption and pending Domain Name System (DNS) queries provides enhanced resource control.
Unify management and monitoring across your ISA Server infrastructure with the Management Pack for Operations Manager 2005, and use enterprise- and array-level policies to easily control security and access rules across your organization.
Fast, Secure Access: Secure, high-speed, and seamless user access to corporate applications and data.
Enable a smoother user experience for published Web applications, document libraries, and content through single sign-on and comprehensive link translation to help ensure secure and consistent access.
Improve Web page load times and reduce WAN costs for users in branch offices with HTTP traffic compression and caching.
Help ensure that the highest priority applications get precedence over other network traffic through DiffServ IP settings, providing better bandwidth utilization and response times for critical Web resources.
Q. How does ISA Server compare with other competing solutions on the market today?
A.
ISA Server has led the market by bringing together application layer firewall, VPN, and Web cache services into a single edge solution. And, by integrating with back-end application infrastructure such as Windows/IIS, Exchange Server, Windows SharePoint Services, and others, ISA Server provides a unique security and access mechanism. Tools, such as wizards for automatically publishing server resources, forms-based pre-authentication, customizable security settings for Exchange and Windows SharePoint Services, and many other enhancements give ISA Server something that no other edge platform can deliver: a seamless, policy-based gateway for Windows servers and clients, Windows Server System application infrastructure, and data resources.
Q. Why would I consider ISA Server if I'm already perfectly happy with my existing firewall?
A.
ISA Server 2006 has been optimized to help protect Microsoft applications, such as Exchange. What this means is that it's a great solution for customers who are interested in taking advantage of the remote access capabilities of Microsoft Outlook Web Access (OWA) but have some security concerns. We've also made this product extremely easy to deploy and manage, an important benefit that can help customers save time, money, and reduce the risk of misconfiguration, which can lead to security breaches. And it's extensible, meaning you can easily add third-party security solutions, such as intrusion prevention and virus protection that make sense for your business. All of this makes ISA Server an ideal solution for small-to-midsized businesses, but it can also be a great complement to your existing firewall implementation, providing added application layer protection against new and emerging attacks.
Q. Will ISA Server 2006 be common-criteria certified as well?
A.
Yes, we have commenced the certification process for EAL4+ (Evaluation Assurance Level), which is the highest level granted to a commercial product.
Q. Will there be updated appliances?
A.
Microsoft continues to work with a broad base of partners to provide flexible hardware-based ISA Server solutions. ISA Server 2006 Enterprise Edition is now also available on appliances.
Q. What is an ISA Server 2006–based hardware solution?
A.
Microsoft has joined with several Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to bring ISA Server 2006–based security appliances to market. These solutions combine the best of ISA Server 2006 with a hardened version of Microsoft Windows Server 2003 and optimized hardware. To learn more, visit the Partner Hardware Solutions page.
Q. Why should I consider a hardware solution?
A.
Purchase a hardware solution if you want an ISA Server device built specifically to run ISA Server 2006. These devices come with a preinstalled hardened version of Windows Server 2003 and ISA Server 2006, ready for deployment. Several hardware vendors have also added additional components and technology to their products such as protocol accelerators, antivirus gateways, and content filtering software to extend the value of ISA Server 2006 for your infrastructure. Lastly, some hardware vendors have created security appliances that you can quickly deploy and automatically update. In addition, these security appliances feature added management tools and Web-based user interfaces for remote management.
Q. What are the differences between the various solutions from different OEMs?
A.
All OEM solutions include Windows Server 2003 and ISA Server 2006 Standard Edition or Enterprise Edition. Some solutions might only be available in certain countries or regions and might include optional value-added components. For more information, see the Hardware Partners page.
Q. Can I reuse my existing ISA Server 2006 license on a hardware solution?
A.
ISA Server 2006 hardware solutions have a special OEM license that is specific to the piece of hardware you purchase. Only those OEM licenses may be used with these hardware solutions. For more information, see the on the Microsoft Licensing site.
Q. What scenarios are most appropriate for ISA Server 2006 hardware solutions?
Q. Is ISA Server 2006 Enterprise Edition available as a hardware solution?
A.
Yes, ISA Server 2006 Enterprise Edition is available as a hardware solution. However, ISA Server 2004 Enterprise Edition is not available as a hardware solution.
