I have a Barracuda Web Filter 210 that was stored away in our vast IT junkyard about two years ago by previous IT. I recently came across it and wanted to put it to use but found that it's subscription hasn't been renewed since its removal.
I called and got all the necessary details but Barracuda wanted me to pay for those two years that its been sitting on a shelf before extending my subscription for updates and my boss pretty much called me retarded for considering paying it. He called it a "ransom".
So, before I go throwing it in a dumpster, I wanted to see if its useful at all to use the web filter for a guest network or something without it's updates. Will it still function within a decent threshold or is it just a piece of junk at this point?
An old Barracuda Web Filter is way more useful than an old out-of-warranty Barracuda Spam Filter.
Try loading it and seeing how well things work. The proxying functions will work. The basic web category and URL blocking will will work. You simply won't have access to the OS (firmware) updates or updates to content categories. E.g. services like Spotify were added in recent revisions. An old Barracuda unit would not be aware of newer services.
I'd consider paying for support or trying to negotiate a hardware replacement if you need Barracuda protection. You will be forced to pay for the lapsed warranty time. A new unit is probably a better deal, as the hardware has been revised recently with faster CPUs and quieter fans.