What's new in UserGate 5.2

Updated web-traffic blocking tool

The product now includes an updated Content-Type web-traffic blocking tool, which enables the software to effectively block particular types of data, such as bitmap images, videos, flash applications, etc.

SSL-protected connection with client

The updated product offers a higher level of security achieved through an SSL-protected client-to-server connection.

Step-by-step Configuration Wizard

Users with little experience in LAN management will appreciate the UserGate Configuration Wizard introduced in the update. Step-by-step prompts will help you configure your proxy server within a couple of minutes.

New statistics and reporting categories

The statistics tool now features new categories of reporting data – “User-Site” and “User Group-Site.” Changes in the report generation engine introduced in the new version provide a visual reporting capability.

Overall product upgrade

Other important changes include an updated configuration file import tool (for importing from previous UserGate versions), damaged database automatic recovery and optimized caching.

What's new in UserGate 5.1

Multilingual installer

A multilingual UserGate Proxy & Firewall installer was added. Now, at the beginning of setup, you can select the installation language and all modules will be automatically installed in your preferred language. Modifying the language settings through the program interface will affect the program interface only. In order to update the language settings within all of the UserGate messages and response pages (files located in the “%UserGate5%\wwwroot” folder), you will need to reinstall the product using the new multilingual installer.

Remote restart

The remote UserGate server restart function was added in UserGate Administration console. Using the administration console, simply connect to the remote UserGate server then select menu “File - Restart server”.

Unicode support

UserGate now supports Unicode, allowing you to use oriental languages.

Content-type filtering

Content-type filtering was implemented for the traffic through the UserGate proxy services. The content-type field contained in the web-server response determines which type of data are contained in the response: audio (wav, mp3, etc.), video (mov, mp4, etc.), image (jpg, png, etc.), document (MS Word, MS Excel, etc.), or other types. UserGate server analyzes content-type fields and, depending on the traffic management rules, permits or blocks the transmission of data. With content-type filtering, it is possible to restrict access to video/audio files, turn off javascript, or prevent the transfer of certain documents types. The list of content types is stored in an *.xml file, located in the “%UserGate5%\Administrator” folder. The UserGate administrator can add new types both directly into the XML file, and through the administration console. For this purpose, we have added a link to ianna.org.

BrightCloud filtering for NAT traffic

BrightCloud filtering is now available for UserGate NAT traffic. This filtering will work if the DNS resolution was performed through the UserGate DNS module. In cases where there are several websites (virtual hosts) belonging to different categories and located on a single IP address, UserGate chooses the category corresponding to the site most frequently accessed from the local network.

Handling 'hosts' file

The UserGate DNS module now handles the file “%SystemRoot%\system32\etc\hosts”. Any changes in this file will automatically update the UserGate DNS cache.

Modified algorithm for DNS requests

A modified algorithm is used for DNS requests when there are several DNS servers specified in the UserGate settings. The UserGate server will query DNS servers based on their reaction time. If any DNS server response is delayed, UserGate will automatically execute a query to all other DNS servers.

Support for MX and PTR DNS requests

The UserGate DNS module now supports MX and PTR DNS requests. These kinds of queries are the most important for the mail server, located in the local area network, behind UserGate.

Support for non-recursive DNS requests

The UserGate DNS module now supports non-recursive requests.

Reports in OpenOffice calc format

The UserGate Statistics module now is able to export a report in OpenOffice Calc format.

Masquerading for Dial-up(VPN) connections

The UserGate NAT driver now supports automatic outbound adapter determination not only for WAN, but also for dial-up (VPN) connections. In *NIX operating systems, this technology is called “Masquerading”.

SIP statistics included in web-statistics module

The UserGate Web statistics module now contains SIP statistics.

'SIP Registrar' function support

UserGate now supports the “SIP Registrar” function. This function allows you to use UserGate as an SIP server for calls within the local area network. In order to use UserGate SIP Registrar, a user needs to specify:

  • UserGate IP address as a SIP Server
  • user name, which is specified in the user’s UserGate profile
  • password (any password can currently be specified)

The availability of the SIP Registrar function in UserGate does not preclude the registration on external SIP servers.

MySQL database support

UserGate now works with the MySQL database.

Setting timeout for UserGate NAT connections

The ability to control the timeout for connections through UserGate NAT is now added to the section "NAT Common Settings". When a user’s request reaches the UserGate NAT driver, the application identifies the correct NAT rule and returns it to the driver. All subsequent network traffic is processed in accordance with the rule. The NAT rule is cached within the driver for a set amount of time in case new connections arrive that need to follow the same NAT rule. The section “NAT Common Settings” allows you to set a value for the TCP/UDP/ICMP timeouts. The option “Print Debug Log” is intended for debug mode and allows extended log messages to be recorded in UserGate NAT driver.

What's new in UserGate 5.0

Web-Statistics

The UserGate Web Statistics module makes statistics available over the Internet through a regular web browser. Access to the statistics in the Web Statistics Module is permission-based and includes three levels: User, Manager, and Administrator. Users can view only their own statistics, while administrators can view other users’ statistics and create report templates. The statistics are presented in the form of a web page with a user-friendly interface, graphs, and charts for better readability.

Connection failover

UserGate enables you to use several Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and make different providers available for different user groups. If the primary ISP connection is not stable, you can enable the Connection Failover feature. With this feature turned on, users will be switched to a secondary connection if the primary connection is broken.

Advanced Firewall

Advanced Firewall enables an administrator to protect the local network against hacker attacks while securely providing important service features like port mapping, forwarding, or opening a DMZ. The built-in UserGate firewall provides additional LAN protection against hacker attacks and other sophisticated types of protocol-based intrusions by blocking traffic going through particular ports.

Application Firewall

UserGate has a built-in application filtering module that allows for the management of Internet-based applications and for setting restrictions on their use by version, type, protocol, or name. Now the administrator can manage Internet access for both users and applications on a client machine. For example, using the Application Firewall, the administrator can allow users to employ only a particular version of Internet Explorer and deny all other browsers.

Bandwidth Manager

The Bandwidth Manager module is designed to optimize application performance in local networks and avoid the negative effects of exceeding bandwidth limits. UserGate allows for setting speed limits, traffic quotas, and the amount of time a user is allowed to be online. The rule created in the Bandwidth manager sets the speed limit for a specific network adapter, traffic direction, source and destination IP address, protocol, and/or port. The Bandwidth Manager can be also used for fixed internet bandwidth, reserving some bandwidth for certain users, and flexibly sharing the rest among other users.

Categorized URL filtering

The BrightCloud URL filtering module included in UserGate helps add extra security to your local network. It is designed to enable administrative control over employee Internet downloads and to restrict access to potentially dangerous web sites if needed. The database contains more than 450 million URLs divided into 70 categories, such as adult, gambling, games, shopping, or travel. Administrators can choose to restrict access to certain websites or categories in general or for particular users or user groups.

Advanced NAT driver

The brand new UserGate 5 features a new and broadened version of the NAT driver. In addition to the Network Address Translation mode (NAT), the new UserGate NAT driver supports masquerading and can work in routing mode. Routing mode now allows system administrators to create several local subnetworks, and manage relationships among them.

IP-telephony support

UserGate 5.0 supports protocols SIP and H.323, which allows the use of UserGate as a VoIP gateway for software IP phones, as well as for conventional IP phones. In UserGate 5.0, an SIP proxy function that checks connection statuses is released (state full proxy). Using an SIP proxy for VoIP, the UserGate administrator can display full information about a connection state (registering, call, waiting, etc), information about a user’s name (or his number), call duration and number of sent/received bytes. The same information will be written to the UserGate statistics database.