Microsoft's ISA (Internet Security and Acceleration) Server provides multiple functions to the organization; most notably, traffic protection via a stateful packet and application-layer inspection firewall; secure remote access for corporate partners, mobile employees, or branch offices via VPN connectivity; enforced authentication at the gateway; and Web content caching for accelerated Internet information delivery. Both Standard and Enterprise versions of the server are available; the latter to be released in March of 2005.

As a firewall, ISA Server provides protection from both external and internal attacks via stateful application-layer aware filtering, including the ability to perform deep inspection of HTTP traffic. Controls can be applied to perform Web site blocking and/or content filtering; and integration with Active Directory allows for the definition and application of policies based on user or group settings.

Built-in VPN gateway capabilities provide for multiple usage scenarios for the server; including allowing remote access for employees; or establishing secure encrypted communication tunnels between trusted partners or branch offices. The VPN servers authenticate both the machines and the individual user connecting; and once authenticated administrator defined access controls--governing what corporate resources are available to the remote user--are enforced.

Finally, the third major capability of the ISA Server--Web content caching--allows for both upstream and downstream caching of frequently accessed Web content (when downstream caches are full, the upstream caches are automatically hit).

Due in March of 2005, the new Enterprise Edition of the ISA server includes capabilities primarily targeted to multiple server implementations. Such features include centralized management and monitoring of multiple servers, including implementation of firewall policies across the organization; support for the Cache Array Routing Protocol (CARP) allowing for the sharing of a cache database across multiple servers; integrated Network Load Balancing (NLB) support for array-based failover and load balancing; and remote access administration.

The new ISA Server Enterprise Edition is expected to be available in March of 2005; with an estimated price of $5,999. Visit the Microsoft Corporation Web site for further information.

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