Discussion on:

Barracuda vs Symantec Anti-Spam filter

My company is currently going to be implementing a "better" spam filter than what is currently in place. We have 2 options as the products have already been purchased.

We have 2 Barracuda 400 boxes that can both be configured and setup for redundancy. However, we have Symantec's anti-spam available to us now because our employee count reached a certain number; this gives an entitlement to have anti-spam as part of the suite we have licensing to. (We use Symantec endpoint protection in case you're wondering).

So we have both a hardware anti-spam and software anti-spam setup available. We're leaning towards the Barracuda setup. Basically, it comes down to my question. Which should we go with and why?

Setup the two solutions in parallel and see which one wins...:)

At a high level, it's a lot more efficient to stop the spam before it even hits your network, and unless there is some huge show stopper, I would rather support one or two appliances versus putting an app on a whole lot of desktops.

I will admit, I have never used the Symantec product. But I have used various Barracuda models for several employers. From the 30 minutes or less from box to working, to ease of configuration to GREAT customer support, I can not imagine going with any other product. Currently, I work in a health care related field. There are some key words (viagra) that I cannot block. Barracuda has done a great job at blocking what needs to be blocked and allowing what needs to be in in.

About a year ago, we were having an email issue. One of the things we were looking at was if the Barracuda unit was the cause. (it was the ISP. Thank you ATT) Barracuda customer support was answered by a human. I was transferred to one person who worked on my issue until completion. Along the way he said, "You have a very old unit. I think it qualifies for a free upgrade." It did. A new free unit arrived in 48 hours.

I can't say much about their price or service as I am not in charge of it, but I can say that for me, it has had a 100% failure rate for blocking spam, it has let every spam email through and has blocked legitimate emails, I eventually just turned it off for my email address.

Of course others experiences may vary.

I must say that in more than ten years at three different employers and after speaking to dozens of co-workers, yours is the only negative comment anywhere close to this bad about Barracuda.

No, I am not paid by Barracuda.

What you are referring to is Brightmail Spam from Symantec. We use it and it does a fair job although not the greatest i have seen at telling spam from good emails. You have to work at the setup of either one to get a good balance. We use Barracuda for Archive and web filter and it does well there so use what fits best for you. One(brightmail) will need a server and Barracuda will add another device to care for. As for slayer, he is not an admin. They know how to make things work. Good luck.

Yep, not an admin, just an annoyed user

Try it to believe IT

Thanks for the insight guys. If we do go with the Symantec solution, it will be on a VM. If barracuda, we'll run the 2 400's parallel for redundancy.