SonicWall is introducing a standalone content filtering appliance for businesses with between 50 and 1,000 users.
Traditionally a vendor of low-end firewall/VPN devices that sells a separate content-filtering service that goes along with the firewall appliances, the new offering is targeted at businesses that may already have a firewall/VPN box from another vendor but want to restrict Web sites their users can access.
Called Content Security Manager 2100 CF, the device checks URLs being sought against a library of blocked Web addresses and drops requests if they match any in the library. The device can also analyze a Web site on the fly and block it if it seems to fall into any of 56 categories it is configured to detect, the company says.
The device can be configured to create custom filtering categories and ratings, and can generate reports on bandwidth use and cost over time, user browsing time total and Web use by individual users. It can also manage use of instant messaging and other peer-to-peer applications.
The CSM 2100 CF is available Oct. 18 for US$2,400 for an appliance licensed for 25 users. The appliance alone costs US$2,075.