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Install and Run UTM 9 (Home) on a new XG 135 Rev 2 hardware? Time to Switch to XG?

utmadm

Summary: I recently purchased a new XG 135 Rev 2 and I am waiting for it to arrive. I am currently running UTM 9 (home) on a UTM 120.

Here are my questions:

* Can I install and run UTM (Home) on the new XG 135 Rev 2 hardware? Are there any issues with doing that? 

* I have been using UTM 9 for many years, but wonder if now is the time to switch to the XG (home) software? Is that a good idea? Is the learning curve steep? If I get an XG (home) license, is it easy to make the XG 135 Rev 2 run that version? (I know how to get the old UTM hardware to run with a home license, but don't know if it works for the XG hardware.)

Background:

* For a long time, I ran a home UTM in a virtual machine. There was one minor problem - the USB/Ethernet (UTM's WAN) interface would load too early and be captured by the host computer, so any time there was a power failure or reboot, I had to unplug the USB/Ethernet and reinsert it after the so that it would attach to the virtual machine. That was a pain and my non-technical family could not remember what to do. The virtual machine UTM could easily do 100 Mbits/sec, which was the max that the Ethernet adapter could achieve, even though the internet supports 200 Mbits/sec. It was good enough. 

* A friend gave me his old UTM 120. I recently updated it to the latest UTM version, edited a file to run the home license, and loaded my configuration in it to replace the virtual machine. Power failure reboots are no longer a concern. It runs great, but it can't keep up with my internet connection (200 Mbits/sec). The best speeds I get are around 50 Mbits/sec.

* That's why I ordered the XG 135 Rev 2 box. I hope that it will keep up with my internet speeds. The question is whether I should run UTM 9 or learn the XG firewall and use it. 

Your advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!



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  • 0

    Hello utmadm,

    Thank you for contacting the Sophos Community!

    For training related to v18, please check this Community Post. /customertraining

    Once you access it,  click the Product Update Training, you’ll find here the training for v18.

    Additionally to this, you can check our https://www.sophos.com/en-us/support/documentation/sophos-xg-firewall.aspx documentation product for XG, as well as our Techvideos portal https://techvids.sophos.com/search?query=xg that also include videos on how to configure v18 and how some modules works.

    Regards,

     
    Emmanuel (EmmoSophos)
    Technical Team Lead, Global Community Support
    Sophos Support Videos | Product Documentation  |  @SophosSupport  | Sign up for SMS Alerts
    If a post solves your question use the 'Verify Answer' link.
  • 0

    Thanks to those who followed or read my post above. I just wanted to share my experience and close out this thread.

    HOW I GOT HERE:

    I have been running a home UTM in a VMware virtual machine on a 2012 Mac mini host (quad-core i7). See my detailed "how to" description in this thread:

    community.sophos.com/.../80436

    The virtual machine was running well, until it didn't. An Apple OS update or a VMware update caused an interface timing change, where the Mac would grab the USB/Ethernet adapter (used for the UTM's WAN port) and prevent the VMware virtual machine UTM from attaching to it. This meant that every time we would have a power failure or I needed to reboot the Mac mini, I had to wait, then unplug and reconnect the USB/Ethernet adapter. It was a pain.

    I also run a UTM for a friend's small business. When he replaced his company's UTM 120 appliance in 2017, he it to me. A few weeks ago with "pandemic time" on my hands, I decided to replace the virtual machine with the UTM 120. My goal was to eliminate the need to disconnect and reconnect the USB/Ethernet adapter for power failures and reboots. It also freed up the Mac mini for other uses. 

    Replacing the virtual machine UTM with the UTM 120 was easy, but I was surprised to see that the UTM 120 was much slower. The WebAdmin interface was VERY slow, and the internet speeds were half of the virtual machine. I decided to upgrade, and purchased an unboxed-but-unused XG 135 appliance on the internet. 

    UTM vs. XG:

    After ordering the XG 135 appliance and posting here, I did further  research and learned that it is not easy to install or run the XG home-licensed software on XG hardware appliances - there are more protections to prevent such use. It is relatively simple to install UTM 9 on the XG appliance and run it with a home license. (NOTE: Neither is officially approved by Sophos.)

    After reviewing the XG software and trying out the online demo, I decided to install UTM on the new XG 135 appliance. I tried multiple times to make a USB flash drive installer without success, but burning the ISO to a DVD worked. (NOTE: The ISO version of the UTM says "CD" but the file is too large for a CD - you must burn a DVD.) I used a USB-powered DVD burner and the UTM install was successful with no issues. It didn't take that long for one installation.  

    I connected to the WebAdmin interface and loaded my saved configuration backup from the UTM 120. The new appliance was up and running quickly. I removed the UTM 120 appliance and replaced it with the XG 135 appliance. Done.

    INTERNET CONNECTION RESULTS, USING SPEEDTEST.NET:

    • Virtual Machine: ~95 mbits/sec. 
    • UTM 120: No better than 50 mbits/sec.
    • XG 135: ~205 mbits/sec
      That is the maximum speed our internet connection supports. The XG 135 may do better if we had a faster internet connection.

    I am pleased with the results. I hope this information helps others.

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