News

Microsoft Releases Forefront UAG RC0

• By Kurt Mackie
• 09/25/2009

Microsoft on Friday announced that Release Candidate 0 of Forefront Unified Access Gateway (UAG) is now available for testing.

The gateway lets IT pros set up and manage security for remote client connections to an organization's network. It's part of Microsoft's Forefront enterprise security product family.

UAG was formerly known as Microsoft's "Intelligent Application Gateway" product. It reached its present RC0 status following a beta 2 release in July.

UAG provides security in conjunction with Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard or Enterprise editions (release to manufacturing versions), according to Microsoft's release notes. It's particularly designed to work with the DirectAccess feature in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 that lets remote clients connect to a network without having to use a virtual private network.

New features in the RC0 version include the ability to use Microsoft System Center Operations Manager to monitor "critical components of UAG and DirectAccess," according to a Microsoft Forefront blog. The blog also notes that it is now "simpler" to deploy an array of servers using the management console in Forefront UAG R0.

The RC0 version also has a new import/export capability that can back up configurations. Microsoft's blog explains that "You can even export an array configuration and import it into a standalone machine."

Details on where to download Forefront UAG R0, plus support links and installation instructions, can be accessed at Microsoft's blog here.