Hey everyone, total beginner here 👋. My team wants me to look into Radware for a potential web app firewall/protection solution. I've been told to set up a basic proof-of-concept, but I'm not sure where to begin.
I'm comfortable with basic cloud concepts and Linux CLI. Do I start with a virtual appliance in our lab? Is there a cloud trial? Mainly, what are the absolute first steps to just see it work? Any gotchas for a first-timer? Thanks for any pointers!
CloudNewbie
Welcome! Totally get that feeling of staring at a new console for the first time 😅. Since you're comfortable with the Linux CLI, starting with a virtual appliance in your lab is actually the perfect path. It gives you full control to break and fix things without any external dependencies.
Go grab the OVA/OVF file from Radware's support portal - you'll usually need to register for a trial license key to activate it. Spin it up on your lab's VMware or KVM setup. The main gotcha I ran into was the initial network config; the management interface needs a static IP you can reach, and you'll likely need to set up a separate virtual switch or VLAN for the traffic you want to inspect. Don't forget to open the required ports (like 443 for the web GUI) in the VM's firewall settings.
For a super quick "see it work" moment, try pointing a test web server's traffic through it using a simple proxy redirection rule first, before diving into full bridge mode. The logging dashboard will show blocked requests pretty instantly if you throw some basic attack patterns at your test server. Good luck, and post back if you hit a snag on the license activation!
Integration Ian