Hi all,
Finally getting caught up on our eval here... wanted to share some our initial first impressions - will add more as time/experience permits.
There's definitely a lot of neat areas to explore (I started skimming the manual - wow, 425+ pages!) ;-), so I'll have to keep coming back as time and our knowledge permits. We've gone ahead and set aside a special, dedicated circuit for our trial, and have started connecting a small but interesting collection of devices to it - including 2 XBOX'es, couple of PC's, etc.. Later this week, we'll add a wireless network with 2 iPad's, an OnPlus device, etc., etc..
What I really like so far (and I'll fully admit, we're more of a Sonicwall and (to a lesser extent) ex-Calyptix firewall shop - we have a lot of Sonicwall's out in the field at client sites) - is that this device appears to have a nice mixture of what appears to be switch- and network-level features, as well as firewall features. I look forward to learning more about those, and delving further into those...
That said, here's some initial findings/questions/comments/ideas:
- Minor nitpick - found a typo on the "System Dashboard" screen (see below). The word "Licenses" is misspelled in one place (see photo). It is misspelled as "Licences" (sic).
- A plea for support for Google Chrome. ;-). I realize that IE and/or Firefox are (rightfully so) a higher priority - but Chrome quickly appears to be becoming the "new Firefox"...
- I was unable to update the firmware automatically - tried several times using 2 different browsers (IE and FireFox). Sometimes I'd see the 'Pop-Up" indicator briefly, other times I would see a message that said "some errors had occurred, please check again". Other times after briefly seeing the "pop-up" indicator, it would throw me back to a firewall logon page. I realize the product is still in development, but firmware updates process definitely has to be "rock solid" - including ensuring that if the upload is disrupted, that it's not going to "brick" the unit. Most people feel somewhat uncomfortable about updating firmware for that very reason - so anything that can be added to help reassure the user - such as a moving progress bar, etc. - is a huge help. I was finally able to upload it manually, but the lack of progress bar(s) during the upload, and the somewhat ominous messages about "don't close the browser or power off the device", were a bit jarring. I understand and accept the risks of brick'ing a system if there's a power loss (or reboot) in the middle of the firmware being applied - but it should certainly not be bricked just due to an interruption in the upload of a new (or yet-to-be-applied) firmware file. I hope that's not the case designwise - but the warning messages really let on that it might be the case...
- So far I've been unable to update antivirus signatures, but will keep trying over the next few days...
- I find it kind of interesting that there's no auto-refresh (or doesn't appear to be) on some of the vital statistics (e.g. Resource Utilization) pages that show things like the CPU load, etc.. Would like to suggest that the design team check out how Calyptix and Sonicwall handle their realtime statistics (live graphs, traffic flows, CPU loads, etc.) for possible ideas/inspiration... One of the potential "neat, unique things" that Cisco could consider might be in having a "read-only" or limited logon which could provide or show such realtime information (firewall load, application usage in real-time and/or near-real-time, etc.) without giving the person viewing that stuff change permissions - just a "read only" or "reports/view only" mode, e.g. to potentially give safely to a business owner and/or office manager.
That's all for now...
Cheers,
-- Dave Bainum, PMP* (dbainum@ritetech.net)
RiteTech LLC / www.ritetech.net / Tel. +1 (703) 561-0607
[*PMP=PMI Certified Project Management Professional]
**
