News

Network Architects launches new antispam/antivirus appliance

Dublin based Network Architects (www.networkarchitects.ie) has launched the Roaring Penguin (www.roaringpenguin.com) Anti Spam / Antivirus appliance which is targeted at SME, Enterprise, ISP and Educational Users.

Roaring Penguin, a Canadian based software developer founded in 1999, specialises exclusively in email filtering and is the author of the mimedefang open source mail scanner widely used throughout the world by ISPs to identify viruses in emails.

With a North American installed base exceeding 3 million email accounts for its anti spam appliance, Roaring Penguin has appointed Network Architects to lead business development in the UK and Ireland.

Operating as a standalone appliance, Roaring Penguin front ends email servers to intercept email and deal with spam before it hits customers’ networks. As a result, no processing power either at the server or end user client station is wasted performing the antispam function.

The appliance employs a combination of content filtering, statistical analysis and grey listing to identify and isolate spam. Importantly, Roaring Penguin pioneer the use of Bayesian analysis as part of its individual User spam profiling which enables the system to automatically develop rules that meet the requirements of individual clients.

A powerful web based management interface is provided for both Administrators and End User clients (latter subject to Admin defined policy) which combined with system pre-configuration ensures rapid installation and immediate return on investment. According to John Earley, Director of Business Development, “Roaring Penguin’s end-user options and functionality in particular are truly unparalleled in the anti-spam business and, with it being an appliance, maintenance and software upgrades are performed without server or client side changes.”

In the best tradition of plug in and forget, the appliance monitors inbound and outbound email, ships with anti virus software free of charge and features automatic updates of spam and virus definitions. Advanced spam handling rules operate to minimise the world-wide effect of spam by minimising the use of return messages that are typically ignored by the sending address.

Network Architects claims that the Roaring Penguin solution offers a better price/performance ratio than any other product on the market. The system ships with source code and evaluation software is available to anyone that wants to perform an assessment of the solution for up to 50 email accounts.

Editorial Notes

Established in 2000, Network Architects specialises in the construction of complex network infrastructure with a specific emphasis on security. In Ireland, the Company has developed high profile relations with large multi-national companies and national entities.

In 2005, the Company took a strategic decision to operate as UK master distributor for innovative North American technology.

MyHome.ie moves house

After another active summer season in the property market, MyHome.ie took a leaf out of its’ own book and moved house in August. Although only moving a short distance across the city to Glasnevin it also provided a perfect opportunity to enhance and upgrade the internal I.T. infrastructure. Having worked with MyHome.ie for 5 years, Network Architects were ideally placed to provide the architecture required by MyHome.ie for future growth. Working closely with Ger Doyle, I.T. Manager, Network Architects were able to plan, design and implement the infrastructural changes.

“Leading up to the move Network Architects identified the areas where we could improve on our current network infrastructure” said Ger Doyle. “There is always a feeling of apprehension when making changes to your existing network, but with Network Architects on board the planning phase covered everything in detail and nothing was left to chance. Everything was delivered on time and on budget” he added.

As with any move of this nature there is always a fear that something will go astray or is not thought of until after the move has been completed. MyHome.ie’s CEO, Jim Miley had the same anxieties. “Having given assurances to board and staff members alike that the move would go smoothly, I was obviously concerned” he said. “We used Cronin’s for the physical move and Network Architects for the I.T infrastructural work. It all ran perfectly. We walked out of our old office on a Friday and walked into a fully functioning office on the Monday morning” he added.

Most companies when they relocate won’t make any infrastructural changes during the move but MyHome.ie decided to be the exception to the rule. “It was an ideal opportunity to change the server hardware, switches and firewall. Network Architects build the entire infrastructure, implemented the security and integrated our existing servers into a Windows 2003 and Exchange 2003 environment” said Ger Doyle. “It was quite painless”

Martin Smyth MD of Network Architects commented that “working with Jim and Ger is always a pleasure and this project was managed with precision from start to finish and ran so smoothly”.