The solution helps us to block some blacklisted emails.
Security Administrator at a tech company with 1,001-5,000 employees
A scalable solution that to block some blacklisted emails
Pros and Cons
- "The solution helps us to block some blacklisted emails."
- "We are using the tool’s 400 model which does not offer accurate spam detection. We have also had performance issues with the tool."
What is our primary use case?
What needs improvement?
We are using the tool’s 400 model which does not offer accurate spam detection. We have also had performance issues with the tool.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with the solution for three years. The tool’s model number that I work with is 400.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable. We had faced some stability issues which got resolved after replacing some hardware.
Buyer's Guide
Barracuda Email Security Gateway
November 2024
Learn what your peers think about Barracuda Email Security Gateway. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2024.
816,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is scalable. You can scale up or down the hardware appliances as per your license.
How was the initial setup?
The tool’s deployment is simple.
What about the implementation team?
I find the tool’s tech support very supportive.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate the solution an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Senior Systems Administrator - Microsoft & LINUX at TCS Pvt. Ltd.
Handles filtering well and helps with the recovery of unintentionally deleted email
Pros and Cons
- "This appliance has helped in that we now eliminate the thousands of scams, spam, and malware emails that are destined for our users."
- "Two improvements that are needed include an enhancement in the proxy feature, as well as the ability to more fully automate patches and updates."
What is our primary use case?
As a large organization, we require a powerful email spam filter and an email security gateway. This is our primary use case for Barracuda Email Security.
How has it helped my organization?
This appliance has helped in that we now eliminate the thousands of scams, spam, and malware emails that are destined for our users. It also helps if a user has deleted an external email by mistake because we can retrieve it from the appliance and re-send it to them.
What is most valuable?
The features that we find most valuable are spam and virus protection. Another is the protection against e-mail spooling. Also, if the email server experiences an outage then we can see the status of all spooled emails, and whether an email has been re-delivered.
What needs improvement?
Two improvements that are needed include an enhancement in the proxy feature, as well as the ability to more fully automate patches and updates.
For how long have I used the solution?
Three to five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
In my experience, this is a stable product.
How are customer service and technical support?
Customer support is good. They act promptly in response to any issues or error.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We did not use another solution in the past.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup for this appliance is not complex. It is very easy to configure and deploy.
What about the implementation team?
We used a vendor team to implement this solution the first time, and we found them to be very capable with a very high level of expertise.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The price of this solution is very high, but it's working fine.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We did not evaluate options other than this one.
What other advice do I have?
If you want to secure your network then you must acquire a spam filter and virus firewall. In my opinion, Barracuda is the best choice.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Buyer's Guide
Barracuda Email Security Gateway
November 2024
Learn what your peers think about Barracuda Email Security Gateway. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2024.
816,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Senior Chief Manager at Arcil
Safeguards email and prevents attacks with zero-maintenance required
Pros and Cons
- "The product safeguards user mail for gateway defense, data protection, business continuity, AI-based inbox defense, and automated threat detection and incident response."
- "Artificial intelligence improvement could be used to help block spam and phishing mail that is directly delivered to users."
What is our primary use case?
We are using Barracuda Email Security Gateway to protect against inbound malware, spam, phishing, and Denial of Service attacks to ensure that our business productivity isn't impacted by attacks through the email system.
How has it helped my organization?
As Barracuda Email Security Gateway is based on the cloud, we don’t need to worry about the maintenance of our software or the hardware it resides on. Compatibility and upgrades are taken care of by the cloud service provider.
What is most valuable?
The product safeguards user mail for gateway defense, data protection, business continuity, AI-based inbox defense, and automated threat detection and incident response.
What needs improvement?
Artificial intelligence improvement could be used to help block spam and phishing mail that is directly delivered to users.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using Barracuda Email Security Gateway for the last two years.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Founder CEO at Waterdog Computer Works
Get rid of your spam concerns and be more productive with the help of this product
Pros and Cons
- "Eliminating inbox clutter creates an opportunity to be more productive instead of wasting time manually sorting through spam."
- "The spam filtering is a little too aggressive. You can not get granular enough to back off on what is considered spam and what is not."
What is our primary use case?
We are an MSP (Managed Service Provider) so, basically, all of our business clients who want email security are using this product.
How has it helped my organization?
Barracuda has made things easier simply by making it so all of us do not have to go through the mounds of spam that would be coming in otherwise. It has made our lives a lot simpler in letting us see what is valuable in our inboxes rather than a blob of emails users have to hunt through.
What is most valuable?
It is really hard to pinpoint any one feature that is more valuable than the others. I mean, the features are all valuable. If I had to choose, I guess the spam filtering part of the product stands out as phenomenal. The time it saves in eliminating inbox clutter and the focus that creates allows staff to be more productive instead of absolutely wasting time manually filtering spam.
What needs improvement?
An improvement I would encourage is that sometimes the spam filtering is a little too aggressive. You can not get granular enough to back off what is considered spam and what is not. So it is fine that they have predefined settings for spam, but not so good that it can not be modified. If we could go in and modify the settings or affect the way it is treating spam, I think that would allow for more versatility and better results.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Barracuda Email Security Gateway for probably a little over two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability of Email Security is fine. We have had no real issues with it.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability is very, very easy. We have over 40 clients with multiple end-users currently using it, so it has already proven to be very scalable.
Primarily the people using the product are actually the end-users. They could be CFOs, CEOs, company presidents, office managers — the whole gamut of employees use the product if they use the network. We are an MSP, so we are literally servicing the whole range of different companies and different end-user needs with pretty high volume capability.
How are customer service and technical support?
I would say their technical support is a ten. They are really good. They support you right from the beginning with training and make you comfortable adopting the product.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Barracuda was actually the first product like this that we utilized. We were looking for a product to take care of spam and email security. In our comparison, we found this product to be the solution for us at the time.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is pretty straight forward as long as you pay attention when you get the training. Record that training session.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing for the product is fine. It matches what we can budget to the functionality we expect.
What other advice do I have?
Security Gateway is simple to implement. Make sure that multiple people on staff are trained in setting it up. In other words, you do not want to just be relying on one individual in the organization to be the only one who is able to set it up. Always have a backup, or even two. That is especially important to us as an MSP.
One more thing would be to pay attention when you first onboard with the solution. Barracuda puts you through some training with one of their technicians. I think it is important that you record those training sessions to keep for your reference. What will happen if you do not take advantage of recording it is that after the first two or three installs, you will be on your own. If you make sure you make a copy of your training session with them, then you can always refer back to it.
On a scale from one to ten where one is the worst and ten is the best, I would rate this product overall as a nine-of-ten. The reason I would give it a nine is just that one area where we do not have the ability to manually go in and modify some of the settings. Until we can do that, it is still a great product but it is not quite a ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Other
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Solution Architect at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
Has intelligent sensing of attacks and offers assistance for load balancing but support is lacking
Pros and Cons
- "It is an excellent, intelligent solution that provides maximum security from email attacks."
- "The technical support is not available globally 24/7 and this is the biggest problem with the product."
What is our primary use case?
Our primary use of this solution is for the main features: intelligent sensing of attacks and the assistance for load balancing. The features are very good. The system is intelligent enough to determine which emails are genuine and deliverable and which are spam or phishing or other types of potential attacks. It processes emails in real-time and it can protect your email server and provide good security for an organization's network.
How has it helped my organization?
It provides a solution for protecting our infrastructure from malicious email attacks without having to use a lot of internal resources to support the product.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features are really the same as our primary use for the product: intelligent handling of potential email attacks and offloading or load-balancing. This effectively protects the organization from malicious attacks.
What needs improvement?
One aspect of the product that can be improved is the availability of support. We don't have the availability of support 24/7, and it takes some time to get answers. These technical support people are in some other country, and our time zone is not supported.
We have to often give them remote access to resolve issues, so potentially it is a security risk also. Sometimes clients who we resell to will not accept that risk because you are opening a secured doorway to the internet. That can be a bit of headache in those cases, which we end up having to work-around.
Actually the rest of the product is very good and it is otherwise meeting our requirements. I would only hope they would provide better support in our country.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using this product for more than five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
This is a very stable product. But the stability depends on supporting the product to let it meet the requirements of your organization. We always have to scale according to the demands of our call center. We needed to know how many emails flow in and out of our organization and based on that we choose the correct model of the product. Any organization will have to do this. Once you ensure which product model you need to meet your level of service, then it will be stable.
If you don't size it properly and you under-size it, then you will have a network or email flow issue. For example, if you know you have 2,000 emails flowing in and out per hour and you buy a product which supposed to handle only 200 or 300 emails per hour, then it will slow your email server. At times miscalculating your volume or not buying the right product — maybe to save money — may cause a situation where it will jam and not even work. So stability depends upon how intelligently you approach the analysis of what you really need as a solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The product is scalable by choosing the right plan. If you need to scale up or down, that is possible. Pricing will change accordingly.
How are customer service and technical support?
We occasionally use support, but find it frustrating because it is not global 24/7 and we are affected by the time zone. We don't have local support and because of that we sometimes have to sit late night to troubleshoot with live support or wait for answers. This is the one place where the company could greatly improve the utility of the product for us.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have used three advanced email security systems, including Trend Micro (InterScan), Cisco IronPort, and Barracuda Email Security Gateway. All three are good solutions but each has its advantages. Cisco, I think, is very expensive compared to Barracuda or Trend Micro. Trend Micro is less expensive but more difficult to deploy and use.
It wasn't so much a case of switching products for my current organization as it was choosing the product that fits with our needs. It was better for us to save a little using Barracuda in cost compared to Cisco and in time and effort compared to Trend Micro.
How was the initial setup?
The deployment took about one week. It was easy to deploy. All the information you need is supplied by the company. You just have to make the proper considerations and do some fine-tuning. Then it can be put into production.
What about the implementation team?
Because we are an enterprise company, we deal with integrators, but we also work with Barracuda directly. So we use both integrators as well as Barracuda support.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Barracuda Email Security Gateway is sort of a mid-range price high-end solution. The pricing is scalable depending on the volume of use.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
In our choice of a product to use as an email security system, I mostly went by previous experience in using Trend Micro and Cisco IronPort. These are two other very good options.
What other advice do I have?
As far as advice to other organizations considering this solution, I would generally recommend the product. But it depends. I can recommend Barracuda as a user because I have not had any problem with it. But if your organization has a limited budget, you might want to consider going with Trend Micro. Trend Micro is also a very good product, and it is a little cheaper than Barracuda when it comes to pricing structure. But Trend Micro is also not as easy to implement and use as Barracuda. So you would have to determine whether Barracuda is worth investing in so that you save time and effort. Barracuda costs a little more, but it is easier to use, more user-friendly and has a little better reputation.
On a scale from one to ten, with one being the worst and ten being the best, I would rate Barracuda Email Security Gateway as a seven out of ten. This rating is lower even though I am completely satisfied with this product as a solution. The big problem is not the product, but the support — which I consider a very important factor. If I can't get support on time or I have to work inconvenient hours to get live support, this ends up affecting our services.
One other thing I think I should mention is that the reporting system for Barracuda is very good. Good reporting is important to the utilization of the product in an efficient manner.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Computer Networks and Systems Support Engineer at a real estate/law firm with 11-50 employees
Reliable, but it could be more automated
Pros and Cons
- "It catches a lot of things and has the ability to add domains as well as add senders and update their things."
- "Spam is not always detected, and it should be more automated. We have seen that some emails are allowed by these emails, which are then stopped by Microsoft."
- "I am not aware of the licensing costs."
What is our primary use case?
We use Barracuda Email Security Gateway for email security.
What is most valuable?
It's a good solution. Maybe if we switch to the cloud version, it will be more up-to-date. It's a good one.
It catches a lot of things and has the ability to add domains as well as add senders and update their things.
It could be more automated. Many solutions in the industry are now receiving automatic updates. This one, we believe, is not; however, a later version may be better.
What needs improvement?
It's good, but some spam isn't always detected. It doesn't always detect the most recent signatures or spam.
The database is not updated automatically. Other solutions, such as Microsoft Exchange Online, automatically receive the most recent threat data and malware data types. I believe the Barracuda database is not being updated. That is why we are looking, and we are evaluating whether Defender for Office 365 or a Microsoft solution is better than Barracuda.
That is why we are downloading all of this research to see which of the market leaders we should switch to.
Spam is not always detected, and it should be more automated. We have seen that some emails are allowed by these emails, which are then stopped by Microsoft.
We now have two layers of defense. Barracuda and we also have Microsoft Exchange online, but we would like to switch to one or upgrade this. We are looking for any and all solutions.
That is what we are investigating right now. Because we want to ensure that some are stopped here by Barracuda and the entry point. However, for those that are not caught or blocked by Barracuda, we have the next layer of Exchange Online, which comes into the picture and checks it, sees it, and blocks it.
For how long have I used the solution?
I joined an organization that has been using Barracuda for a few years, but they are looking into other options.
I only recently joined them, about six months ago.
I have been working with Barracuda Email Security Gateway for six months.
I don't recall, which version we are using but it is not the latest one.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Barracuda Email Security Gateway is a stable solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I believe that Barracuda Email Security Gateway is scalable. We didn't make many changes to the architecture. But I believe it is scalable.
We have a small IT team of three to four people.
We have small IT teams and approximately 50-60 business users. There are only three or four people who are directly involved with the product.
How was the initial setup?
I am not aware of the initial setup. It was already deployed when I joined.
This solution is difficult to maintain, which is why updates should be automatic, in my opinion. It should be intelligent enough to get the most recent updates, which it is not at the moment.
I believe it is, but I believe it does not catch everything. Perhaps we need more collaboration, more technology companies.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I am not aware of the licensing costs.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
My senior colleague appears to believe that Exchange is superior. Because it receives the most recent updates and Microsoft is the largest, it has more Intel on this. We are getting more data, including real-time data updates.
What other advice do I have?
I have yet to compare it with other solutions, but I would rate Barracuda Email Security Gateway a seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
System Administrator at Subisu Cablenet Pvt. Ltd.
Blocks spam and viruses, but doesn't block some of the phishing emails
Pros and Cons
- "It is lightweight, and we can filter all of our inbound and outbound emails. We have controls for rate control, quarantine, and tagging. We can see whether an email is a spam email or a phishing email."
- "Some of the phishing emails are not being blocked. Another problem is that we are not able to manage the date and time in our time zone."
What is our primary use case?
We are relaying our emails from Barracuda Email Security Gateway. We are using Barracuda Email Security Gateway 600.
How has it helped my organization?
It is blocking the virus email addresses. Rate control is also being blocked. It is also able to block some of the blacklisted emails and tag social marketing spam emails, which is good.
What is most valuable?
It seems good in terms of spam blocking and virus blocking.
It is lightweight, and we can filter all of our inbound and outbound emails. We have controls for rate control, quarantine, and tagging. We can see whether an email is a spam email or a phishing email.
What needs improvement?
Some of the phishing emails are not being blocked. Another problem is that we are not able to manage the date and time in our time zone.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for about 10 days.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Its scalability is good for our environment. We have around 1,500 to 2,000 email users.
How are customer service and support?
I have not yet taken support from Barracuda. We need a little bit of support so that we can solve some of our issues with Barracuda Email Security Gateway.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We have used Cisco Email Security. We switched because there was a little bit of difficulty with the licensing features. We also had to frequently get in touch with Cisco tech support for a solution. They would just investigate for a long time, and our solution was delayed. So, we chose Barracuda.
How was the initial setup?
It was easy. It was not complex. It was an on-premises deployment on VMware, and it took one day.
What about the implementation team?
Two people were involved in its deployment. I worked with one person from the vendor.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We are using the trial version right now, and before purchasing the license, we need to solve some of the issues that we are facing. We need a proper solution for our email, and then we will look into pricing. We have a vendor for licensing.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We did not look at other solutions.
What other advice do I have?
It is good. It is working in our environment. It is very useful to us, but we are having a little bit of difficulty.
I would rate it a seven out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Network Specialist at a educational organization with 1,001-5,000 employees
Straightforward to deploy and the logging feature has been helpful
Pros and Cons
- "This solution has helped to significantly reduce the amount of junk email that we receive."
- "The reports are standard, and it would be nice to be able to customize them."
What is our primary use case?
We use this solution for filtering and enhancing our email.
How has it helped my organization?
This solution has helped to significantly reduce the amount of junk email that we receive.
What is most valuable?
We really like the logging system in this solution. It is easy to track down email messages that a user has misplaced, or didn't realize that they got. Perhaps it came in but was wrong because the sender had the wrong email alias, for example. You can track down and find things like this.
What needs improvement?
The pricing of this solution could be improved.
The reports are standard, and it would be nice to be able to customize them.
It would be nice if the appliance itself was scalable, rather than having to replace it.
For how long have I used the solution?
Approximately nine years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
This solution is fairly stable. We have had the appliance replaced a couple of times due to some kind of failure, but over nine years, you're bound to replace it once or twice. When this happened, they were pretty good with the turnaround and getting it back to us.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I would say that this specific appliance is not scalable. While the product, overall, is scalable, we would have to accomplish this by moving up to a different model.
We have approximately two thousand email users who are using the filtering, blocking, and quarantine features. We receive about ten thousand pieces of email per day.
How are customer service and technical support?
We have been in contact with technical support over the span of its lifetime. They are really good at helping us and working through problems, or trying to fix the appliance when needed.
When a replacement is needed they send us a new box and we ship back the old one. This is part of the additional coverage that we purchased.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We did not use another solution prior to this one.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was straightforward and fairly simple. We were able to do it without support from the vendor. It took us approximately two days to get it up and going.
Our ISP had to set up a DNS NET at the time it was deployed.
What about the implementation team?
We handled the implementation in-house after purchasing it from a reseller. It was myself, and I had some assistance from our ISP at the time of the deployment.
There are three or four of us who handle the management and administration.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The cost of this solution is based on the size of the product that you buy and the number of users. In our case, it is just based on staff.
Our licensing fees are approximately $4,000 per year, and this includes updates for the antivirus and spam signatures. They are always trying to keep up with the spammers.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We were looking for something that was easy for us to deploy and would work. We did evaluate at least one other solution before selecting this one.
What other advice do I have?
This is a good product. It works, it's reliable, and it's helpful. We feel that it is worth the money that has been spent on it.
Overall, the product is effective, but the scalability is limited.
I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Barracuda Email Security Gateway Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
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Updated: November 2024
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