“We manage many applications that must be accessed from the Internet and for security, we can not have them in public view. Zentyal’s port redirection is my favorite feature because it allows to manage them in a very simple and efficient way”
Josué Solís Torres Support Manager Qualsys
With the goal of centralizing and making easier the management of more than 150 users and the whole network infrastructure, Qualsys deployed Zentyal mainly as a domain and directory server and firewall.
The challenge
Qualsys was looking for a single solution to easily manage its growing number of employees and port redirection, along with many other network services. After a trial period they opted for Zentyal because of the robustness of the system and because it allowed them to manage all the necessary services from a central point.
Before deploying Zentyal, the company did not have a domain and directory server and network management was done directly with switches and routers. The information of the users was backed up on a CD, also manually. Due to the increasing number of users and applications that their users had to access from the Internet, the administration of the system had become very complex and time consuming and they needed a solution that would allow them to make this work easier.
The solution
Qualsys deployed Zentyal on a single server with 4 processors (Intel® Xeon® CPU E5405 2.00GHz) and 24GB of RAM, with a 2.5TB HDD disk. As they didn’t have an existing server, it was not necessary to carry out any type of migration and they made a clean installation of Zentyal where they configured the port redirections and created the users.
The main function of their Zentyal Server is that of a domain and directory server and firewall: it controls the allocation of IPs to five network segments and performs the port redirection of incoming connections.
Additionally, other services offered by Zentyal are also used, such as the file server, antivirus, DHCP / DNS server, NTP server, VPN server and registry service.
Before taking the deployment to production, Qualsys carried out exhaustive tests for two months to be sure that the system responded to their needs.
The experience
For Qualsys the most important thing has been the centralization of their network infrastructure into a single solution, which allows them to manage all the IT resources in a much easier way. Particularly noteworthy is the ease with which Zentyal allows managing the port redirection – a feature that is essential for Qualsys as they manage many applications that must be accessed via the Internet and for security reasons can not be exposed to the public.
Once the tests were carried out and the production deployment was finished, the system has worked in a very robust way, requiring very little maintenance. In terms of hardware requirements, since Zentyal Server does not need a lot of processing capacity, it has also helped them to save costs while they can deploy servers with advanced functionality.
About Qualsys
Qualsys is a Mexican consultancy firm that integrates multidisciplinary teams in order to advise, recommend and implement the best technological solutions available in the market for human capital and finance management. Qualsys counts on people passionate about consulting, guaranteeing excellent results for their clients and always favoring a relationship with a vision of the future.
The company was founded in 2002 by industry professionals with the aim of providing real value to the customer-supplier relationship. Their experience in different branches and business processes has allowed them to venture into several markets such as automotive, financial and retail offering specialized consulting services.