iPrism Web Filter Technology

Total Appliance Solution:

The iPrism Web Filter delivers comprehensive, policy-driven Web filtering by combining software flexibility and scalability with the security and control of an appliance-based solution. The iPrism h-Series high-performance appliances are designed to enhance iPrism Web filtering capabilities now as well as prepare for new features and functionality in the future

The compact, 1U, h-Series appliances are compatible with all supported versions of the iPrism Web Filter operating software. The powerful h-Series appliances deliver blazing throughput speeds ranging from 10 to 100 Mbps depending on the model you choose. With a variety of models available to suit your requirements, the iPrism Web Filter is designed to fit any size organization and even the largest pipelines. The iPrism Web Filter, delivered via the h-Series appliances, provides powerful, comprehensive Web filtering to organizations ranging from large enterprises to small and medium-sized businesses.

10h Web Filtering Appliance

The iPrism 10h delivers superior Web filtering results to small organizations and includes the same hardened and optimized OS, high-performance components and ease-of-use you have come to expect from the iPrism Web Filter. The 10h is ideal for organizations with 1-175 workstations, although other factors such as Web usage and bandwidth size are also important points to consider when choosing the right model for your organization. If you are looking for network failover capabilities, consider upgrading to the 20h.

20h Web Filtering Appliance

The iPrism 20h is the model that comes after the 10h and includes more processing power, double the memory size and a 1 Gbps network failover card for added protection. It is an ideal choice to handle the Web filtering needs of small and medium-sized organizations that have greater bandwidth requirements. If you are looking for a server-grade appliance with redundant power and RAID storage, consider upgrading to the 30h.

30h Web Filtering Appliance

The iPrism 30h is the next step after the 20h but it represents a leap in power and features. With a full 1U chassis, a 1 Gbps failover NIC, a Dual-Core Xeon processor, Dual Hot-Swap Power and 250 GB (times-2) RAID, the 30h can handle more users and a bigger pipeline. If you need more Web filtering speed, consider the 50h or 100h models.

50h Web Filtering Appliance

The iPrism 50h is the next model after the 30h and represents a significant upgrade in power and capacity. Like the 30h, the 50h is a full 1U chassis with the 1 Gbps failover NIC, Dual Hot-Swap Power and 250 GB (times-2) RAID. In addition, with its Quad-Core Xeon processor and more RAM, the 50h has twice the processing power of the 30h and is capable of handling medium to large-sized enterprises with large pipelines. If you are looking for an even faster Web filtering experience, consider our most powerful appliance, the 100h.

100h Web Filtering Appliance

The iPrism 100h is the powerhouse h-series model, able to handle the Web filtering needs of the largest enterprises. It boasts a Dual Quad-Core Xeon processor and 4 GB of RAM and comes with 500 GB (time-2) of RAID storage, making it our fastest and largest capacity appliance. For organizations requiring maximum speed, storage and scalability, the 100h appliance is the perfect choice to handle Web Filtering across a large enterprise.

Seamless Directory Integration:

Active Directory and LDAP Authentication
iPrism Web Filter makes administration easy for IT professionals by seamlessly integrating with all major network directories including Novell Netware Directory Services (NDS), Windows Active Directory and even MAC clients using AD 2003/2008. Also, as an LDAP variant, it is possible to integrate iPrism Web Filter with OSX Server Open Directory. These enhancements enable support for group-to-profile mapping, group-to-privileges mapping, iPrism Auto-Login and profile assignment, and the option of secure communications.

LDAP Support

The iPrism Web Filter now supports LDAP v.3 as well as LDAP and LDAP v.2 authentication. LDAP is an industry standard protocol and is supported by most major vendors and operating systems. By enabling LDAP v.3 compatibility, users of OpenLDAP no longer need to force v.2.

Novell Netware Directory Services (NDS)

The iPrism Web Filter enables support for Auto-Login, profile mapping, privilege mapping and secure communications when using Novell eDirectory as the LDAP server and Novell login clients on user machines.

iPrism Web Filter Supports Active Directory

iPrism now supports Active Directory 2008 authentication. By adding support for LDAP v.3 and using Kerberos protocol, AD08 users can seamlessly authenticate to the iPrism with a secure Microsoft authentication method. When using Windows Authentication, the Auto-Login feature automatically obtains user credentials from the workstation using Kerberos. This means users do not have to manually provide credentials to iPrism. iPrism is able to authenticate users with a secure, native protocol when they are logged into a domain trusted by iPrism's configured domain controller. This allows the client browsers to respond to Windows authentication requests from iPrism with no intervention by the user.

MAC Client Authentication

The iPrism Web Filter now offers seamless integration for MAC clients using AD2003/2008 by allowing them to take advantage of Auto-Login from OSX (Tiger and Leopard) clients. You can achieve authentication by binding the clients to the same AD server as the iPrism Web Filter, using Directory Utility and enable Active Directory (version 1.6.4). If you use AD2003/2008 but you do not bind, you can take advantage of a locally cached credential with a one-time prompt from iPrism when using OSX (Tiger and Leopard) clients

Session-Based Authentication

The iPrism Web Filter Offers Significant Advantages in Citrix Environments
iPrism's unique "session-based" authentication technology allows for auto-login, which simplifies the authentication process in a distributed environment. This feature makes it an ideal solution for Citrix users. When this feature is deployed, iPrism allows users to maintain their productivity without incessant authentication requests, ensuring that uniform policy application and enforcement are being enabled across your organization

Multiple Administration Roles:

iPrism Delivers Optimal Flexibility in Delegating Admin Tasks
The iPrism Web Filter, with Multiple Administration Roles gives IT professionals incomparable flexibility in managing their resources. Accessed through iPrism's new browser-based interface, the Admin Roles feature allows IT departments to easily share administrative task by assigning a wide range of roles and privileges to others in their department or the company.

Using this feature is easy. iPrism's menu of predefined roles and privileges, allow you to quickly assign admin responsibilities, or, you may choose to modify existing roles to better suit your specific requirements. You can even create your own customized roles and privileges in order to achieve the optimal use of your department resources.

Benefits of iPrism's Multiple Administration Roles:

• Allows you to more efficiently manage your IT department and resources by decentralizing administrative authority
• Enables the distribution of administrative tasks within your IT department so that you can establish a defined set of responsibilities
• Enhances iPrism's already low TCO (see iPrism TCO report) by providing superior flexibility in distributing tasks
• Assures that you maintain the security level of your department by controlling administrative responsibility

This chart outlines the predefined roles and privileges iPrism offers:

Main Admin Roles screen

Admin Roles Details Screen

Kernel Level URL Filtering Technology:

The iPrism Web Filter uses proprietary kernel-level technology to deliver zero-latency URL filtering that's the most accurate in the industry. When combined with the speed of the h-Series appliances, iPrism's performance is unsurpassable.

Here's how kernel-level URL filtering works:

Unlike many other URL filtering solutions that process requests from the application layer, the iPrism Web Filter handles requests from the kernel layer, resulting in zero latency filtering. This means that iPrism content filtering gives you the speed of pass by with the accuracy of pass-through technologies.

In transparent bridge mode, the standard iPrism deployment, requests for the Internet pass through the iPrism and go to the Internet. While this is taking place, iPrism is making a decision on whether or not to block the requested URL. As the URL request returns from the Internet, if the iPrism Web Filter is configured to block the web site, the user is redirected to an announcement that iPrism has blocked the page and the request itself is discarded. If the site is allowed, then the URL filter allows the site to be passed back to the user.

Since the URL filtering decision is being made while the remote site is working on the URL request, the iPrism is able to process URL requests with no apparent network slowdown. For users, this means less frustration, fewer help desk calls and more efficiency in enforcing your corporate AUP.

FreeBSD-Based Operating System:

The iPrism Web Filter uses FreeBSD as the basis for its hardened and optimized operating system. FreeBSD was chosen because it offers better performance and more security and compatibility features than many other operating systems in use today.

Because iPrism has its own OS, it can provide complete interoperability with any platform you are using. By employing the exceptional stability of the FreeBSD OS, St. Bernard has built an iPrism platform that is customized and configured to run uninterrupted on our h-Series appliances, ensuring continuous Web filtering protection from the moment of deployment. Also, as a completely self-contained solution, iPrism is transparent to the end-user and can be installed into any network without additions to workstations or any added software.

Neither network architecture changes nor alterations to existing firewalls and/or routers are required to operate iPrism in its most common installation, transparent bridge mode. Operating iPrism in the less common proxy mode requires minor modifications to network routers and a slightly longer installation time. However, iPrism offers IT administrators the option of multiple deployment modes making it one of the most flexible and extensible Web filtering solutions on the market. (See Transparent Bridge Mode Deployment and Proxy Mode Deployment)

Kernel-Level Filtering

As a dedicated appliance-based Web filter with its own OS, iPrism can deliver faster, more accurate filtering with no latency. This is accomplished with Kernel level filtering that, unlike software-based filters, operates from the kernel level rather than the slower application level, giving you the speed of pass-by with the accuracy of pass-through filtering. (See kernel-level filtering).

iPrism Offers Hack-Proof Security

Another advantage of a hardened and optimized OS is security. The iPrism Web Filter is commonly installed between your firewall and internal systems with all Internet traffic routed through it. This positions iPrism as your strongest defense against Internet-based threats, a claim that has been borne out in thousands of deployments worldwide -- iPrism has never been hacked.

High Availability Redundant Data Centers:

St. Bernard's iPrism Web Filter with the exclusive iGuard database keeps your iPrism updated with daily downloads (hourly for security categories) via our Tier 1 data centers. With colocations on coasts, diverse path connectivity and fully redundant power and environmental systems, you are assured continuous, high performance and security.

Each of our data centers offers enhanced physical security with badge-only entrances and continuous video surveillance. This assures that only authorized, verified personnel have access to our data centers.

Each data center is equipped with redundant power supplies assuring updates are available for download to your iPrism whenever you schedule them, on a 24/7 basis. In the case of security categories, your networks and employees are protected with iPrism's exclusive hourly security updates.

Network Diagrams:

iPrism simply fits in networks of all shapes and sizes.

• Scales both large and small.
• Distributed or centralized.
• Mixed networks including Terminal Services.