RE: What's wrong with this page?

  • From: "Thomas W Shinder" <tshinder@xxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: "[ISAserver.org Discussion List]" <isalist@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Wed, 4 Aug 2004 08:10:17 -0500

Hi Amy,

You know, I go both ways on this (OK Jim and Thor, no jokes here).

I really have a much greater kinship with these small businesses and
like working with them much more than the "big guys" who have swallowed
the PIX/Netscreem Bsology hook, line and sinker. I'm going to have to
rethink my approach to this subject, as it would be a good way to
introduce them to the power and flexibility of the ISA firewall software
and when they get bigger, they'll be a position to use dedicated ISA
powered hardware firewall (like that Jim, 'hardware firewalls' :-))

I was seriously considering not including any of these scenarios in the
upcoming book, because there are a lot of potential gotcha's. However,
it sounds like these customers are less interested in being security
'purists' and more interested in having secure remote access and a
measure of outbound access control. I'm sure the SBS team will do a bang
up job on coming up with some Wizardry for this, but that might be
almost a year away, from the sources I have on this issue.

BTW -- have you heard of SMB Nation? I'll be talking at their conference
next month and still trying to figure out what to say to them :))

Thanks!

Tom
www.isaserver.org/shinder
Get the book!
Tom and Deb Shinder's Configuring ISA Server 2004
http://tinyurl.com/3xqb7
MVP -- ISA Firewalls



-----Original Message-----
From: Amy Babinchak [mailto:amy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] 
Sent: Wednesday, August 04, 2004 7:21 AM
To: [ISAserver.org Discussion List]
Subject: [isalist] RE: What's wrong with this page?


http://www.ISAserver.org

Tom,

The scenario that I outlined isn't far off when I walk into a new
client. I can get them from scary to SBS Premium relatively quickly. But
I really think I'm going to run into a road block if I have to convince
them that they need 2 servers, when they are managing to run the
business without 1 right now. This will leave me with the fall back
position of SBS with some cheap-azz firewall with major holes punched
through it for remote access and remote access is BIG with small
business. These folks put in long hours and would rather put in some of
those hours from home. Remote access is THE thing that tips the scale in
favor of SBS with small biz owners and gets them to release the funds to
create a real network. Only ISA can do that safely.

Amy
 

-----Original Message-----
From: Thomas W Shinder [mailto:tshinder@xxxxxxxxxxx] 
Sent: Wednesday, August 04, 2004 7:00 AM
To: [ISAserver.org Discussion List]
Subject: [isalist] RE: What's wrong with this page?

http://www.ISAserver.org

Hi Amy,

That's a pretty good disseration! I might lift it for some other stuff
I'm writing in the near future (but I will give you credit!)

However, the scenario you're describing here looks more like the people
who use Kazaa are their primary vendor of ISA firewall software and
Reset5 as their version of CDW for Windows Server 2003.  They aren't
able to warez the hardware, so they hit the flea market or pawn shop or
eBay (or whatever fence they decide to use that day) for the hardware. 

This is not the type of small biz I think about, but I guess I need to.
Even 5 person shops can generate significant yearly revenues where
security and remote access are critical for the business and millions of
dollars would be lost after the Linksys or Netgear or the PIX (you know,
all open outbound to any application and any user is really helpful for
trojan afficiandos, you can can't beat packet filters for the most
modern and effective method of securing the perimeter).

So, investing $1.37 isn't too much for a business that wants to stay in
business, wants to grow, and wants to reduce their overall TCO (unless
the TCB [total cost of buying] is almost zero because of eBay and
Kazaa).

IMHO,

Tom
www.isaserver.org/shinder
Get the book!
Tom and Deb Shinder's Configuring ISA Server 2004
http://tinyurl.com/3xqb7
MVP -- ISA Firewalls



-----Original Message-----
From: Amy Babinchak [mailto:amy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] 
Sent: Wednesday, August 04, 2004 6:38 AM
To: [ISAserver.org Discussion List]
Subject: [isalist] RE: What's wrong with this page?


http://www.ISAserver.org

Tom, you know by now how I feel about this...but you brought out the
soap box, so here goes...Only if the ISA appliances come in very near
$500. Otherwise, most small businesses are going to go back to handing
out passwords to ex-cons as they leave the pen. (I mean using Norton
Internet Security or nothing at all.) Eliminating ISA from SBS
integration may make a few businesses more secure but it will leave most
of them up a creek without a paddle. If some of my clients knew that SBS
was available at a lower cost with ISA they would have insisted on
buying it that way because they went to Best Buy and saw that they have
firewalls for $59 and it checks for viruses too! Now once they've been
my client for a while they tend to go with what ever I recommend but new
small biz clients are a hard sell. I'm out here trying to convert the
masses let's not make it more difficult than it already is. 

No argument from me that it would be more secure on separate hardware
but I want to see you sell it to Joe's Landscape Service, 12 user
network. Now Joe's nephew is pretty good with computers, he's in
college. He's the one that set up what they have now. Right now they
have Yahoo DSL with a built-in firewall, 1 Windows 95 computer, 2
Windows 98, 6 Windows 98SE, 2 Windows ME, and 1 new XP Home. If their
Nephew can't get what they need from school, then they buy all of their
computer stuff at Best Buy or if they don't have it they can order from
Staples. They run Office 97 Quickbooks Pro 2000, and an Access 97
database. They have no domain name, no website. They have no software
disks. They have no backup. 

Joe calls you because he's tired of these slow computers and wants a
couple of new ones. Also, his nephew came in and installed Office 2003
on some of the machines but now their Access database doesn't work so
when you fix that he wants you to put that new office on all the
computers. His nephew has the CD for it. (burned copy from school) They
tried to get the DSL to work on all the computers but SBC Yahoo DSL says
that it can only work on one computer at a time, but they know that
other bigger businesses have DSL that works on all computers so they
know that DSL support is lying about that; they want Internet on all the
computers. They think they have a virus again because the computer that
runs Quickbooks keeps hanging and they have to reboot it 3 times a day.
Over the winter they went to a landscape show and got a domain name of
joeslandscape.com so they want to start using email. He heard that you
can work from home using XP, so that's what the new XP machine is for,
so set it up for me. We'll probably want to have more people work from
home once we get this one working. I know my wife wants to use
Quickbooks at home and my brother's wife will want to check her email
from home. I bought some palm pilots off eBay for the crew leaders that
I want to all use the same address book. Send me a quote.

This is your starting point with Joe. How long will it take you to get
him to buy two servers? 

Amy
 
 

-----Original Message-----
From: Thomas W Shinder [mailto:tshinder@xxxxxxxxxxx] 
Sent: Tuesday, August 03, 2004 10:58 PM
To: [ISAserver.org Discussion List]
Subject: [isalist] RE: What's wrong with this page?

http://www.ISAserver.org

Hi Amy,

Wait until the ISA firewall appliances come out. You'll never go back to
putting your purse on the front-lawn before you go to bed at night (I
mean, putting DC and Exchange Server on the firewall) :-)

Tom 

-----Original Message-----
From: Amy Babinchak [mailto:amy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] 
Sent: Tuesday, August 03, 2004 8:57 PM
To: [ISAserver.org Discussion List]
Subject: [isalist] RE: What's wrong with this page?

http://www.ISAserver.org

Sorry guys, I'm an SBS person. ISA 2004 isn't available as far as I'm
concerned.

Amy
 


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