Improving bandwidth efficiency for Cisco and FortiNet firewalls

GISS has released FirePlotter version 1.4, a quick-to-install and easy-to-use Windows application that lets IT Managers, support staff and firewall engineers monitor all the network connections flowing through Cisco and FortiNet firewalls.

By simply and securely connecting to the Cisco ASA/PIX or FortiNet FortiGate firewall to be monitored FirePlotter instantly begin to display real-time session information.  FirePlotter provides a list of connections summarised by Protocols and whether it’s an Inbound or Outbound connection, along with graphical bandwidth usage by the most common Internet Protocols.   

FirePlotter uses multi-threaded technology to provide efficient backend data gathering and smooth user access to the required firewall connection information. Session information is gathered securely using encrypted Secure Shell protocol (SSH). The bandwidth graphing is colour mapped to 8 key Internet Protocols (such as web browsing, email, FTP, remote desktop access) the colour of which is reflected in the session table.

The product runs under Windows XP/Vista/2003 and can be run in unlicensed free ‘Watch only’ mode to see a summary of firewall connections.  A 14 day fully functional evaluation license is available. Full licenses start from $101 USD (£49 GBP) for a single-user license for use with a SMB firewall.