Father Ryan High School

Case Study

Jeff Mesch
Director of Technology
Nashville, TN

http://www.fatherryan.org/

The Background

Father Ryan High School seeks to be a superior Catholic high school, providing excellence in religious and moral formation, academics, athletics, and the arts while remaining accessible to those seeking an education in the Catholic Tradition.

How many users/computers do you support and how are they spread out?

We have around 900 students and 120 faculty/staff, with approximately 400 computers.

What environment is your Smoothwall product running in?

We have a single site, but multiple buildings connected via fiber optics. For the most part we're Windows XP and Windows 2003 server, but migrating to Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2 Server soon.

What type of user authentication do you use?

We use Active Directory for authentication, and have tied our Smoothwall into that.

What was the problem that needed to be solved, that required you to look for a new system?

Our previous content filter was almost useless, it was well known among our students how to bypass it. So initially we came looking just for a new filter, based on my past experience of using DansGuardian. However, after talking with Smoothwall, I learned that we could go with an entire UTM device and achieve a whole new level of functionality beyond what our existing device could do.

Why did you choose Smoothwall?

I was impressed at how solid the filter was, especially the ability to hook into Active Directory so we could better track the students. Beyond the filter, I found the additional capabilities of the UTM (VPN, & intrusion especially) to be right in line with where I wanted to go next. I was also able to build a good relationship with Smoothwall as I was considering my options. The team at Smoothwall understood what I was looking for and spoke my language, without trying to outright force something at me.

What has your Smoothwall product enabled you to do?

We've done a gradual rollout of the Smoothwall. Initially the focus was to just get the basic firewall and filter up. However, in the process Steve Van Lanen uncovered some problems with our ISP that went totally unnoticed with our previous device. It resulted in a change of ISP's, which slowed the rollout until the ISP change was complete. We're now fully operational with the filtering that we've wanted for a while. With the filtering in place, we've noticed a drop in time wasting traffic from the students, especially with Facebook. We've started testing VPN access and hope to roll that out to users who need it over the next month or so.

Did we replace a solution from another company? Or who did we compete with?

Our previous device was a SonicWall. In terms of competitors, the biggest one was M86. When it came down to it, they were not serious about my business and were not hearing what I was telling them. I still don't understand why CDW-G keeps them around as a vendor.

Are you dealing directly with Smoothwall or through one of our Partners?

Direct with Smoothwall.

Do you have any comments about the quality of service you received from Smoothwall or our Partners?

Seriously, Steve VanLanen is arguably the best network support person I have ever dealt with. On at least one occasion, he outsmarted a group of AT&T network engineers.

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