Top Firewall for Differently Populated Enterprises

March 4, 2017 by

Irfan Shakeel

In today's technologically sophisticated world, everyone feels deficient without the internet and computers. In every field and every company computer is the essential appliance to manage all the machinery of the business. No matter you are at work, doing studies at college, or just having a relaxing time at your home, it is definite that you might either switch on your computer or any other related devices. Conversely, it is significant to guarantee that while you use the internet, you also preserve the security of your network to avoid hackers and becoming harmless from intruders. It is estimated that when you connect your computer network to the internet, you are linking your computer to more than 50,000 unknown networks and their users as well. To avoid intruders to harm your network, firewall security is the best-known solution to become safe from cyber criminals.

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A firewall could be software or hardware base that protects your computer from being attacked over the Internet by hackers, viruses, and worms. They are essentially intended to block unauthorized access, security threats, to deny and decrypt transmitted information through various networks online.

No matter what the size of the company is, small or widely spread, there are some effective firewalls that can be used to prevent against intruders:

Firewalls for Small Organizations:

Here are some firewall solutions that would be beneficial to companies of 50 employees or less.

1. SonicWALL:

   SonicWALL has built its worth in the security market by offering solutions from firewalls to anti-spam systems. SonicWALL offers a wide range of ISCA certified firewalls to choose from. The NSA 4500 supports 600 Mbps of Deep Packet Inspection with optimized performance. It can also set up high-performance Virtual Private Networks at thousands of different endpoints around the world. The best part about some of SonicWALL's lower end products is that you do not have to spend millions of dollars. You only required paying a small amount for a product that could be saving you thousands with the protection it offers.

    
2. Cisco:
   As its higher end solution usually knows Cisco, the company also offers less expensive solutions for smaller companies. You can get Cisco's ASA 5505 Firewall edition anywhere from $400 to $1500. Cisco not only provides you with its high-class solution but also industry's gold standard protection. Moreover, it also enables you to take advantage of Cisco's highly regarded VPN technology. However, Cisco is highly recommended by many organizations due to its high-end solution, but it is also a bit more expensive than other firewalls. Market trust has made Cisco the most recommended product among all.
3. Juniper:
   Another big name in the security market, Juniper offers its SSG series of firewall and VPN. It is somewhat an enhanced version of SonicWALL products. It has 160 Mbps throughput and can manage 30,000 firewall packets per second. Its VPN performance clocks in at 40 Mbps. It has the capability to manage 25 concurrent VPN tunnels and 8000 concurrent VPN sessions, which can be increased through a purchase of an extended license.

Firewalls for Large Enterprises:

Here are some firewall solutions that would be beneficial to companies that seek high-end protection and performance level.

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1. Cisco:
   With its security certifications and reputation in the industry, Cisco is certainly one of the leading network solution providers. The company's overall product family is the Cisco PIX 500 series, with five firewalls available that offer advanced protection. Large enterprises should focus on the company's higher-end solutions, such as the PIX 525 and, especially, the highly scalable PIX 535 that provides 1 Gbps of firewall throughput and can manage up to 500,000 simultaneous connections. Some models consist of integrated hardware acceleration for VPN (virtual private network) and have up to 95 Mbps of 3DES VPN and hold up for 2,000 IPsec tunnels. However, the pricing starts from US$29,995.
2. Check Point:
   Check Point is also a big name in the market that is recognized by its high-performance firewall for large organizations. The company's well-known product is Firewall-1. Starting at $19,000, an enterprise can purchase a Firewall-1 Gateway Bundle, which comprises an enforcement point shielding an unlimited number of IP addresses. The bundles utilize Check Point's security management architecture, which provides one-click centralized policy distribution.
3. Fortinet:
   Fortinet offers a greater firewall that combines stateful packet assessment with security programs to identify and prevent potential threats. Fortinet FortiGate 3700D is being known as world fastest firewall, which includes four 40 GbE (QSFP+) and 28 10GbE (SFP+) ports, is competent to achieve up to 160 Gigabits per second (Gbps) firewall throughput. Fortinet redefines the standard for price per gigabit protected, price per port density, power dissipation per gigabit and space per gigabit. This performance enhancement lowers both capital and operational costs for customers while providing the highest performance and lowest latency available.

Cyber security is undoubtedly the most sensitive part of an organization that requires important firewall protection system. However, there are different firewalls to address different requirements of an organization. While more advance the firewall is, the more expensive it will be.