IP-guard

CNET Editors' review

by: CNET staff on July 22, 2010

Networks are everywhere these days, and it's a rare company or organization that doesn't use at least one. Even families are getting in on the act, with shared resources like multimedia files. TEC Solution' IP-guard is a single solution to most users' network management issues. Its modular design lets you manage and protect your online and offline computing resources based on your specific needs. It helps secure your intellectual property through active security features as well as through sophisticated tracking and logging of all activities in your network.

IP-guard installs in two parts, the V3 Console and V3 Server. There's an agent that installs on networked machines. To install the Server module, you must have SQL Server installed. The base software includes three modules--the Basic Module, Device Control Management, and End-point Security Management--and two agent licenses, though further modules and licenses are available for users who need them. There are 14 modules in all, including specific applications to manage and secure your bandwidth, printers, removable storage, remote access points, IT resources, documents, and Web sites. For all its wide-ranging capabilities, IP-guard is fairly easy to set up, thanks to the Basic module, which is the central point of control. The main Console has the familiar Windows-style interface found on powerful Administrator-level applications. We tried IP-guard's basic functions in an admittedly limited environment. However, it's obvious this capable program will pose no challenge to most admins, and the modular design means no dealing with anything that's not needed.

Though IP-guard is clearly designed with the business user in mind, it's affordable enough to help organizations, charities, and even families and individuals secure and manage their networks and shared resources. It's ideal for physicians, consultants, small businesses, and others who need an enterprise-class secure environment yet can't justify the expense of the big-box solutions.

Editors' note: This is a review of the full version of IP-guard 3.11.1219. The trial version has some features disabled.