UniFi Dream Machine Pro Review (December 2020)

Does your workspace have multiple devices set up for Firewall and Security purposes?

If so, you might find the UniFi Dream Machine Pro to be a considerable alternative. In this blog, I’ll be covering the UniFi Dream Machine Pro, an all-in-one security gateway and network appliance. The UDM Pro operates with the new UniFi OS, an 8-port switch and security gateway.

Software

The UDM Pro’s Software is composed of the UniFi Network Controller management interface, the UniFi Protect Sofware, and other features.

UniFi Network Controller management This interface can be used for accessing network information and network management. Through this interface, users can evaluate network topology and configuration, statistics, and repairing metrics. The UDM Pro offers customizable Reporting and Analytics features for managing large user-environments and rushing troubleshooting. With Advanced Search and Sorting options, users can manage their networks more productively. Moreover, the UniFi Network Controller could be used to configure UniFi devices (such as Access Points or Switches), map out networks and manage system traffic.

UniFi Protect Another software to mention is the UniFi Protect Controller. It is designed for suitable monitoring and absolute management of the camera surveillance system. It allows users to manage and monitor UniFi cameras through a graphical user interface. The UniFi Protect Controller software is available for installation on the UDM Pro without any additional software, licensing, hosting or support fees. The UDM Pro contains UniFi Protect video surveillance NVR with 3.5” HDD support.

• Events Video recordings are stored on the built-in Network Video Recorder (hard drive not included; install the hard drive of your choice).

• Live View users can view up to 20 live camera feeds in one window.

• Time Lapse This feature allows users to scroll through video events and recordings rapidly and productively. Users can now go through hours of video recordings in a matter of minutes.

• Easy Setup This device’s deployment can be set up and configured via Bluetooth from a mobile device or via web browser from a computer.
  • For Bluetooth setup, users should turn on Bluetooth on their mobile device and navigate through the UniFi Network App for configuration.
  • For traditional computer setup, users should access a computer connected to the UDM-Pro on a LAN port and proceed to use Google Chrome
    • Confirm that the host system Is on the same Layer 2 network as the UDM-Pro
    • From the Chrome browse, go to https://setup.ui.com

• Simple Installation UniFi Protect automatically senses camera discovery, and this makes it easy for cameras  to be installed and implemented to the network. Given that all camera settings are joined into the software, users have the option to manage any camera firmware from the Unifi Protect Interface.

• Free Surveillance Software. UniFi Protect offers a solid IP surveillance software without any fees. Users wouldn’t have the need to reach out to third-party surveillance software.

• Mobile Access Users can access the UniFi Protect application from their mobile devices to access their UniFi Protect system through remote cloud access.This mobile application also allows users secure access to video recordings confidentially stored on the Cloud Key Gen2 Plus, rather than on a third-party server or internet cloud.

Hardware

So, what is included? The dream machine pro includes every thing that a typical small or medium sized businesses would need. It includes:

• 1U Rackmountable  8-port Gigabit Switch
• WAN ports
  • (1) 10G SFP + port
  • (1) Gigabit RJ45 port
• LAN ports
  • (1) 10G SFP + port
  • (8) Gigabit RJ45 ports
• 3.5” HDD Bay (also supports 2.5” HDD)

Security

One thing that highlights this device from others is its progressive firewall policies and continuous threat management. These features allow the UDM Pro to operate as an IPS (Intrusion Prevention System) or IDS (Intrusion Detection System).

• Threat Management Through this feature, users could choose and modify security levels for viruses and malware, hacking, Point-to-Point (PTP) protection, Internet traffic, and website reputation.

• Scanning Features Scanning features on the UDM Pro only maximize network protection: through the Endpoint Scanning feature, the device automatically scans endpoints, or clients, connected to a user’s network in order to detect probable security threats and vulnerabilities. The Honeypot feature also serves as a detector for any type of malicious traffic that tries to scan a user’s network for vulnerabilities.

• Filtering Features The UDM Pro also consists of Filtering features: the DNS Content Filtering feature includes three levels of DNS filtering security and prevents traffic from websites with malicious, phishing, or adult content. Through the GeoIP Filtering feature, users can prevent outbound, inbound, or bi-directional traffic selected by country (users should access the UniFi threat map to select the countries they intend to block from their network).

Additional Features

• Advanced Redundancy In case of WAN failover, this device will automatically switch over to other WAN or even LTE connections.

• Automatic Quality of Service (QoS) within this device is mainly designed for improvements in voice and video traffic. This is essential for voice and video communications to be clear regarding Voice Over IP (VoIP).

• VLAN Support This device allows users to create virtual network segments for security and network traffic management.

• VPN Server for secure communications This device allows for site-to-site VPN connections that secure and encrypt private data transmissions traveling over the Internet.

• Innovative Display on the UDM Pro device is one of the interesting components of the product as it has a 1.3” touchscreen that shows status information, allowing users to monitor and troubleshoot their network in a simple way.

The UniFI Dream Machine Pro is designed for advanced security and user-friendly configuration. This device is suitable for small and medium-sized businesses or environments with a large network. The UDM Pro’s software and hardware features make it a favorable option to combat today’s cyber attacks.

Klio Systems, Inc. is a technology company focused on software engineering, digital presence, managed IT services and security practices company.