new user install question

[jasonemmg]

I am new to this site and want to install untangle on my network!

My main purpose is to monitor web activity on the 25 PC's in my office. Mainly interested in seeing what web sites are visited during the day by all employees.

Our network is SBS 2003 with T1 connection and Sonicwall with 3 switches.

T1/modem - sonicwall - switch 1 - switch 2 & 3 (for PCs)
\ linksys (phone system)

Switch 1 branches off to the switches used for PC's and to a Linksys connected to phone system.

questions:

1. Do I have to install untangle on a separate PC?
2. Does untangle install over existing XP
3. It can be configured to not track e-mail,IM's, etc..?

Thank you.
Jason

[sky-knight]

1.) You should
2.) Untangle for Windows is very buggy, a new alpha version is out but untested, and to be fair... I think your too big for it. Stick with a standalone
3.) Yes

Untangle is very obtrusive if all you want is something to log web visits. It is a UTM, the "best" approach is to replace the sonicwall with a UT server of appropriate build. Having two security appliances on the same network just means more work for you.

[stockvictor]

Jason,
I believe the SonicWALL may be able to provide you the information you need depending on which model and firmware version you are running. As an example, from the admin account, look at Log>Reports>Websites hit. Start the report and it will track where web traffic access is happening along with the sites and the number of hits. If you add their viewpoint solution, it can also tell you who, when, where, and for how long for each user.

If the SonicWALL is the gateway in your environment, the gateway always knows all.

The SonicWALL also does this basically for free (i.e., no performance hit). In addition, you already paid for it. You may as well utilize its available features.