PerfectMail M2200 vs. SurfControl E-mail Filter Comparative Analysis

The PerfectMail M2200 appliance was selected for comparison with the SurfControl E-mail Filter appliance because it provides enterprise class hardware that mid-size companies would demand from an e-mail security product. We anticipate that e-mail administrators would select similar hardware on which to deploy SurfControl's product.

Summary

• Does not impose per user or per domain license fees for either antispam or antivirus services. This results in much lower cost of ownership vs. the SurfControl E-mail Filter offering
• Filter accuracy of 99.9+% is industry leading. SurfControl does not publish filter accuracy numbers, making direct product comparisons difficult.
• Provides guaranteed delivery of messages from discovered e-mail peers
• Provides both inbound and outbound antispam and antivirus protection
• Has no preset limits on the number of users you can protect
• Has no preset limits on the number of domains you can protect
• Works with any mail server

The SurfControl E-mail Filter

• Does not included the hardware needed to run the product
• Does not included the underlying base operating system needed to run the product. SurfControl requires an MS Windows server operating system. Licensing Windows will add additional cost to your deployment.
• Does not offer filter accuracy guidelines
• Does not offer filter consistency guidelines
• Does not provide hardware sizing guidelines. We could find no recommendations for the amount of hardware needed or the estimated number of messages per hour a platform can handle. This makes sizing a SurfControl deployments problematic
• Has potentially more options for 3^rd party antivirus solutions. However, SurfControl does not provide much information on which 3^rd party antivirus products are supported.

Detailed Comparison

Price & Limitations

Category	PerfectMail M2200		SurfControl E-mail Filter		Comments
Base price with one year Maintenance		$7,345		$2,500 Hardware $500 MS Windows $28,500 Antispam & Antivirus	Analysis based on 1,000 users. SurfControl costs $19 per user per year for antispam & $9.50 per user per year for antivirus. SurfControl customers must supply own hardware and MS Windows operating system.
Messages Per Hour		no preset limit		?	The PerfectMail M2200 can handle over 50,000 connections per hour. No information availabe on the number of connections SurfControl can accept.
Number of Supported Users		unlimited		1,000 users (for review purposes)	The PerfectMail M2200 does not impose a per-user license for antispam or antivirus. SurfControl charges a per-user fee for both so costs increase as you add users.
Number of Supported Domains		unlimited		?	The PerfectMail M2200 lets you protect as many domains as you like at no additional charge.
Antivirus Engine		ClamAV w. Hourly updates		McAfee	Timely antivirus updates ensure accurate virus protection.
Additional Antivirus Protection		tbd		yes?	Alternative 3rd antivirus products give you an enhanced level of virus protection at additional cost. SurfControl claims to support 3rd party antivirus solutions but does not list supported products.
Antispam Engine		PerfectMail		SurfControl	Both companies have full control over their antispam technology.

Accuracy & Consistency

Category	PerfectMail M2200		SurfControl E-mail Filter		Comments
Filter Accuracy		>99.9%		?	Higher accuracy means less time wasted handling spam. No quantifiable information available on SurfControl filter accuracy.
Consistency		Guaranteed delivery of e-mails from discovered peers		?	PerfectMail learns your e-mail peers and ensure that their e-mail is handled correctly
False Positives		<1 in 100,000		?	No information available on SurfControl false positive rates.

Hardware Comparison

Category	PerfectMail M2200		SurfControl Recommended Minimum Hardware		Comments
Processor		Pentium 4 - 3.0ghz		Pentium III - 600mhz	Faster processors complete mail filtering tasks more quickly.
Memory		1GB DDR2		1GB	DDR2 memory provides faster RAM access
Storage		72GB 10,000 rpm		1gb disk	Surfcontrol needs 1gb of disk space above the operating systems' requirements.
Hot Swap Disks		yes		customer provided	Hot swap disks let you replace a failed drive without powering down the appliance.
RAID Level		RAID-1		customer provided	RAID-1 provides protection from a single disk failure
Hardware RAID		yes		customer provided	Hardware RAID-1 provides better protection with lower host CPU overhead
NIC		2x 100/1000mb		customer provided	Faster NICs mean lower network latency
Chassis Format		1U Rackmount with sliding rails		customer provided	Low profile appliances conserve space on your server rack
Operating System		Hardened Linux		Customer provided Windows 2000/2003 Server	By not paying royalties to Microsoft, we can sell our appliances at a lower price.

Installation & Configuration

Category	PerfectMail M2200		SurfControl E-mail Filter		Comments
Quick Set Up		30 minutes or less		many hours	PerfectMail is a complete hardware, O/S, antispam and antivirus solution. With SurfControl, you must build your hardware, install and harden the O/S and then install and configure SurfControl
Administrator Interface		Web		Web & Windows	Installation and configuration is accomplished through a simple Web and/or Windows based interface.
User Software		None Needed		None Needed	No agents means less work for administrators
Mail Server Compatibility		All		All	Both products work with any SMTP compliant mail server.

Notes:

We used information provided by SurfControl. Click here to visit SurfControl's web site.