Product Reviews

TINY Software WinRoute Pro 4.1

• By Chip Andrews
• 09/01/2000

TINY Software’s WinRoute Pro 4.1 is a software-based, feature-rich firewall product that offers a wide range of services and a small footprint. Fully installed, the product occupies only about 2M of disk space and 4M of memory while the service is running. But don’t let these small numbers fool you. WinRoute is loaded with rare features including an integrated mail server, anti-spamming filters, and NT security model integration.

TINY Software’s WinRoute is a powerhouse of Internet connectivity infrastructure. Notice that with DHCP, mail, and a DNS forwarder, smaller shops may not even require a dedicated server. (Click image to view larger version.)

It’s important to note that WinRoute doesn’t interpret denial-of-service attacks, nor does it provide proactive security warnings or alerts. Security analysis is performed by manually reviewing the WinRoute security log and viewing packet drop/deny events. Still, WinRoute is a powerful firewall product that can provide most any feature required by small- to medium-sized businesses. WinRoute’s only drawback is that its lack of a wizard means the product must be manually configured, requiring a higher degree of networking savvy than other offerings. In my view, WinRoute is best suited for security professionals or other experienced users, and can meet nearly all of a smaller organization’s Internet connectivity infrastructure requirements in a single, inexpensive package.