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Barracuda's Modular Security Solution Enables K-12 IT Administrators With Next-Generation Features
Technology Category
- Cybersecurity & Privacy - Endpoint Security
- Cybersecurity & Privacy - Network Security
- Networks & Connectivity - Network Management & Analysis Software
Applicable Industries
- Education
Applicable Functions
- Business Operation
- Facility Management
Services
- Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services
- System Integration
The Challenge
Paulsboro Public Schools needed better solutions for protecting students from inappropriate content and managing bandwidth. Its previous web filter and firewall solutions lacked many of the key features they needed, including SSL inspection and next-generation application awareness. In addition, these solutions were difficult and time-consuming to configure and manage. Magazu wanted feature-rich, easy-to-use, and affordable solutions for his district.
About The Customer
Paulsboro Public Schools is a public K-12 school district located in Paulsboro, Gloucester County, New Jersey. The district consists of four schools with 1,200 students and 250 employees. Joseph Magazu is the Director of the IT department that supports the school’s IT infrastructure across multiple sites. Paulsboro has a 300 Mbps and a 50 Mbps Internet connection for performance and redundancy.
The Solution
When Paulsboro started experiencing network latency, Magazu decided to look for a new security solution to help free up misappropriated bandwidth, in addition to a number of other requirements. The Barracuda Firewall x600 was able to provide him with granular Quality-of-Service to be able to more efficiently manage bandwidth usage. This significantly improved network performance as students were suddenly unable to circumvent the security infrastructure to access inappropriate content. In addition, Magazu also streamlined his network by prioritizing all student web and application traffic over a faster 300 Mbps connection, while sending all other traffic, such as VoIP over the slower 50 Mbps connection. With the Barracuda Firewall serving as the new core of the network, Magazu was now able to efficiently cross-leverage his existing Barracuda Web Filter to enforce more granular access policies for all students and staff. Paulsboro was having difficulties with controlling student access to proxy sites and file sharing applications. Paulsboro combined the layer-7 application control capabilities of the Web Filter with the next-generation application awareness of their Barracuda Firewall and noticed a much higher catch-rate of inappropriate content that users were trying to access.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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