Choosing a deployment
A short decision guide — which products, which placement and which licences for your situation.
Answer these questions in order.
- What do you need to protect? Websites, portals and APIs → Web App · ATS. The whole internet line (mail, VPN, remote access, every server) → Internet · NTS. Both → both.
- Is it for your own organisation, or for customers? Your own → stand-alone shields (patterns A and B). Customers → SENTRA GUARD with ATS and NTS nodes (pattern C).
- How many GUARDs? One → GUARD on its own. Several regions, brands or data centres → add SENTRA VIEW above them (pattern D).
- Where does ATS go? Trial or single small site → same server. Production → dedicated edge server.
- How does NTS sit in the line? Keep the existing network design → bridge segment. NTS should be the gateway (NAT, VPN, multi-WAN) → routed segment. Two boxes for no single point of failure → an HA pair.
- Which licence modules? ATS:
sentra(always),sentra-idsfor network sensors and threat feeds,sentra-aifor the AI analyst and Copilot. NTS:sentra-nts.
Quick recommendations#
| Situation | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| A company with a public website and an online portal | Stand-alone ATS on a dedicated edge server, sentra + sentra-ids; add sentra-ai for AI second opinions |
| A branch office or SME on one internet line | Stand-alone NTS in routed mode on a small appliance; bridge mode if a router must stay in place |
| A home or small office wanting a filtered, safe internet | Stand-alone NTS on a small appliance with DNS and HTTPS-name filtering |
| A data centre selling protected hosting | One GUARD with ATS nodes for hosted websites and NTS nodes for customer IP blocks |
| A telco with DIA customers in several regions | VIEW + one GUARD per region; NTS nodes for DIA lines, ATS nodes for customer websites; fleet price book in VIEW |
| A bank or government agency that must stay sovereign | Shields and control plane on its own hardware; AI analyst on a private model; licences and releases installed by hand if fully air-gapped |
Tip
Whatever you choose, start every shield in Monitor mode for a few days. Review what would have been stopped, trust anything legitimate, then switch to Enforce.
Next steps#
- Read the Product Specifications for requirements, ports and capabilities.
- See the Hardware Appliance Guide for SENTRA NTS appliances for SME and home.
- Contact SENTRA (demo@sentra-ai.com) for sizing, a demo on your own traffic, and licensing.