One to rule them all! Network, monitoring, access control, VoIP, firewall. All in one UniFi OS!

Ubiquiti Networks is a well-known brand for years to all users of both wired and wireless networks. Solutions offered by ui.com are dedicated both for IT operators, business customers and individual clients. To meet the expectations of users, Ubiquiti Inc. greatly simplified access to its UniFi ecosystem. In the past, you had to buy a separate gateway to perform routing, Cloud Key to manage the structure of devices and WiFi access points. All of this has now been combined into a single UniFi Dream Machine Pro.

The UDM-Pro is the most comprehensive and powerful security gateway in the entire UniFi product line to date. The immense processing power is derived from a quad-core 1.7GHz processor, so it is able to deliver high throughput even with DPI (deep packet inspection) and SQM enabled. The professional dream machine runs on the new UniFi Os operating system and can therefore support all current and future controllers:

• Unifi Network
• Unifi Protect
• Unifi Access
• Unifi Talk

The high throughput and performance that UniFi Dream Machine Pro can provide is extremely important if you want to take advantage of all the features (including security) that UniFi OS offers. For example, Threat Management is a security feature that scans network packets and actively blocks network traffic from known security threats. On the other hand, with the SQM function you can prevent such a problem, which is sending more data than it can handle (buffering).
This functionality requires very high computing power, and we have to admit that it is missing in most routers and firewall devices. Let's take for example an old UniFi USG gateway. When you enable SQM or Threat Management on this device, the speed drops to a maximum of 60Mb/s!
If you are still wondering why there is so much computing power in UniFi Dream Machine Pro, I invite you to take a look at the specifications table.

Ok, so then how can the UID platform help us ? Well, it is an extremely functional tool that will help you manage the entire company structure and employees. In short, thanks to UID you can:

• Add, edit and delete users quickly and securely
• Manage user access through a very elegant, aesthetically pleasing and easy to use interface
• Quickly connect to your corporate Wi-Fi or VPN with a single click
• You can very easily verify each registered user and device, using advanced single sign-on (SSO) and multi-factor authentication (MFA) services. The SSO feature is available in the PRO plan.

UID functions

Single Sign-on (SSO) - this enables employees, partners and customers to gain simple, fast and secure access to all Saas, mobile and enterprise applications with a single authentication using company credentials.

Multi-factor Authentication (MFA) - is an additional layer of security that protects user account and behavior, as well as application vulnerabilities and other threats.

Lifecycle Management (LCM) - lifecycle management - allows you to easily view and move users between lifecycle states and automate procuders of enabling and disabling users.

Universal Directory (UD) - is a single place to manage and view all users, groups and devices in your organization. You can import users directly into the UID or integrate with an existing directory (Active Directory, LDAP, G-Suite, CSV, BambooHR and more).

UID WiFi - it's the easiest, fastest and most secure way to connect to your corporate WiFi.

UID VPN allows you to access your organization's VPN anywhere, anytime with just a single click or tap.

UID Access allows you to securely manage your UniFi Access system and devices and allows your employees to unlock doors using phones, NFC cards and other methods.

Overall, UID is a massive platform that analyzes our network and employees in great detail from virtually every angle. There are so many options in it that I decided to describe in detail the UID platform itself in the next article.

The entire UniFi OS ecosystem clearly deserves recognition. We can manage the entire structure of our network from a single place (both Wi-Fi and LAN), monitoring (Protect), access control (Access), VoIP telephony (Talk), and most importantly, we have access to a detailed view of the statistics of our entire UniFi OS ecosystem. I must admit that personally I have not yet met with such a solution from any other manufacturers (Cisco, Zyxel, HP). Generally, each manufacturer has a platform to manage only a specific section of the network. Usually we have at our disposal a separate application for monitoring (BCS, Dahua, Hikvision), a separate application for alarm system management, yet another for VoIP telephony, and yet another for obtaining detailed statistics and logs related to our network.
Ubiquiti Networks solved it completely differently. UniFi OS is a platform that integrates all subsystems into one! And we have to admit that Ubiquiti has risen to the challenge. UniFi OS is so advanced and intuitive that navigating through the entire UniFi ecosystem is nice and easy. Connecting more devices, configuration and subsequent analysis is extremely user-friendly and guides you step-by-step through the process. UniFi OS simplifies the life of administrators and technicians of various installations related to the IT segment.
To sum up. Ubiquiti Inc. proved yet again that it takes a very professional approach to all IT solutions. It cares for its customers and tries to provide newer, faster and better devices (e.g. LTU). And UniFi OS and UniFi Identification itself is the icing on the cake. Well, we can only wait for more news from Ubiquiti Inc. Bravo Ubiquiti!!!

Author:
Leszek Blaszczyk