Re: Firewall Hardware and a bit of a Rant

Colin wrote:
Hi all,

I need advice on which hardware firewall to purchase for a client with 20 users. I'm fairly new to SBS and have installed 3 servers. So far, no major problems. I have installed Premium to use ISA but my line of thinking is now moving to single NIC with hardware FW appliance and not relying just on a password to secure a network. I've read (and appreciated) Leythos's advice on Watchguard Firewalls but looking at the users forums fills me with dread - Watchguard seem to think they are Cisco and don't have to provide support to smaller IT guys because they are so powerful etc.. I need an appliance that can provide Firewall, Content Filtering and be a VPN server/End Point and be configurable by a mere mortal like me without having to enrol in a £1000 per day class. I've looked at the major vendors offerings and so far I'm stumped which way to go. Cisco in this case is out of the question because of the cost. Likewise with Watchguard (my reseller can sell me a X550e for £1100 but need another £1000 to train me (in 6 hours) how to configure it). Sonicwall seem approachable but I've no experience with them. Anyone used Juniper ? If so what do you think ? Easily configurable ? What about D Link (business line) ? Or Checkpoint Safe@Office line ? If my client didn't need web filtering, I'd bang a PIX in and use the Cisco VPN Client for remote access with local database XAuth to provide double authentication. Unfortunately, they do so can anyone recommend an appliance that will cover my needs and be (fairly) straightforward to configure ? Many thanks.

Regards Colin.

I'd suggest www.securecomputing.com

for 20 users, get the sg580 model.

their sidewinder router is amazing, blows away just about anything on the market without costing you a small fortune (aka cisco).

also, unlike cisco, secure computing has EXCELLENT support. $120 per year gets you a support contract on your sg580 by engineers who speak english!!! (american or british staff).



http://securecomputing.com/index.cfm?skey=1559
.

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