The Console port is the main interface of the CacheGuard appliance. It is either the serial port (a male DB9) of the appliance or the connected screen and keyboard. When logged in via the console port, administrators have access to online commands to manage the appliance.

For those who are not familiar with Command Line interfaces and prefer a GUI (Graphical User Interface), a Web administration GUI is available. To connect to the Web administration GUI you need a Web browser. All major well-known Web browsers are supported (Firefox, Safari, Opera, IE...).

Another remote administration interface is the Secure Shell (SSH).

To implement the CacheGuard OS in forwarding mode (to protect Web surfers) the most important factor is the total number of end users. A capacity manager integrated to the OS tunes the appliance during the installation for the given number of users. According to the the capacity management policy all end users are not connected at the same time but just 10 percents of them. Also the consideration is that each user may open up to 5 simultaneous Web connections. For instance a 100 users license allows you to protect 100 not named users. So the appliance is tunned to run for 10 simultaneous users which means 50 simultaneous Web connections. Of course a burst of 500 connections will be granted.

To implement the CacheGuard OS in reverse mode (to protect Web servers) you should consider the number of simultaneous Web connections rather than the total number of users. For instance if you plan to implement the CacheGuard OS in front of a Web application to support up to 50 simultaneous users and if your Web application require 3 Web connections per user you have to get a license for 150 (50 x 3) simultaneous Web connections which means a license for 300 (150 / 5 x 10) users.

For 100 users (10 simultaneous users ; 50 simultaneous Web connections), a typical hardware configuration is:

• x86 Architecture
• Intel Core 2 Duo
• 1024 GB RAM
• 40 GB HD
• 2 x Ethernet 100 Mbps NIC

For more users, prefer a server with more RAM and HD Storage Capacity. Normally add 512 MB of RAM and 20 GB of HD Storage Capacity for every 50 users. For instance an appliance tunned for 200 users (4 x 50) requires 2048 MB (4 x 1024) of RAM and 160 GB (4 x 40 GB) of HD Storage Capacity.

A CacheGuard Appliance runs better with several low storage capacity HD compared to a single high storage capacity HD (prefer a server with 4 x 40 GB HD compared to a server with a single 160 GB HD).

With CacheGuard you have the possibility to activate all integrated security and optimization features at the same time. Some features (like the HTTP real time Compression or the Antivirus) are more CPU consuming than others. The above given configuration is required when you intend to activate simultaneously all available features. You probably need less hardware resources if you don't need to activate all available features integrated into the CacheGuard OS.

CacheGuard OS requires at least 2 Ethernet NIC. To use the link bonding feature, add one or two additional Ethernet NIC.

Note that CacheGuard OS may be installed for a minimal number of users on a mini computer that doesn't require a powerful hardware configuration. The minimum hardware configuration for 10 users is as follows:

• x86 Architecture
• CPU Intel Pentium IV
• 512 MB RAM
• 8 GB HD ^(*)
• 2 x Ethernet 100 Mbps NIC

^(*)OS main components are installed on a single Hard Drive called the OS Hard Drive. By default this is the first HD detected during the installation. The minimum capacity required for the OS HD is about one GB. An additional six GB is required for the persistent cache and log files.

If installing our downloadable OS Appliance on your current hardware is not an option, CacheGuard SWG is for you. CacheGuard SWG (Secure Web Gateway) is a dedicated hardware solution specially designed for CacheGuard OS. For further information on CacheGuard SWG Hardware Appliance, please click here.