User`s guide

Chapter 3 Managing the Barracuda Spam Firewall ■ 49
Configuring Advanced Settings
Configuring Message Rate Control
The ADVANCED-->Rate Controls page lets you configure how many connections are allowed from the
same IP address in a half-hour time period. Rate control protects you from spammers or spam-programs
that send large amounts of email to your server in a small amount of time.
The table below describes each setting on this page. Click Save Changes after making any
modifications.
Activating Individual Accounts
When you first start using the Barracuda Spam Firewall you may prefer to only activate a few accounts
so you can familiarize yourself with the system and train a few users before rolling out the new
capabilities to your entire organization.
To activate an individual account:
1. Go to the ADVANCED --> Explicit Users page.
2. In the Email Address field, enter the email address of the account to activate.
3. Click Add.
Note: Only accounts added to the Email Address list receive spam and virus protection. However,
RBLs, rate control, and recipient validation are applied to all incoming mail regardless of this list.
Updating the System Firmware Version
The ADVANCED-->Firmware Update page lets you manually update the firmware version of the
system or revert to a previous version.
The only time you should revert back to an old firmware version is if you recently downloaded a new
version that is causing unexpected problems. In this case, call Barracuda Networks technical support
before reverting back to a previous firmware version.
To manually load the latest firmware version:
Note: Applying a new firmware version results in a temporary loss of service. For this reason, you
should apply new firmware versions during non-business hours.
1. Read the release notes of the latest firmware version to learn about the new features.
Setting Description
Message Rate Control Specifies the maximum number of connections allowed from the same
IP address in a half-hour timeframe. When the number goes over this
threshold, the Barracuda Spam Firewall blocks further connections/
messages.
Legitimate sending email servers will act on this message and inform the
sender or sending mail server to try again later. Spam senders probably will
not do anything with this message and will stop sending email when they do
not get through.
Rate Control Exclude
IP/Range
Enter any IP address range that you wish to exclude from rate control. To
enter a single IP address (rather than a range), enter 255.255.255.255 for
the netmask.