Security

Ask something
Discussion Locked

Firewall

0 helpful
9 replies

by sharon 1 view

Closed to new repliesThis discussion is closed. It stays readable, but it takes no new replies.
We are currently running a Sonicwall Pro Vx. We've had some problems with our sonicwall in the past. Our original sonicwall started locking up on an everyday basis. After many calls to tech support, we finally got our sonicwall replaced. It's been working fine for about 6 months, and now it's beginning to lock up again. I'm doing some research on other firewalls. Does anyone have any suggestions on decent firewalls for a medium sized company? We have approximately 150 users, 2 email server and a web server. Any input will be appreciated. Thanks a lot.

9 replies

by techkid

We've used the Cisco 501 PIX firewall in the past (~$500) and we use all Cisco switches/routers/VPN stuff. In 5 years we've never had a problem with any of our Cisco gear. That's easily over 150 devices.

by bmackenna

I don't know what your budget is but when I researched firewalls for my company expecting to spend $20k, I was able to put in a Cisco PIX515e with a failover unit for only $11k. This unit comes with 2 built-in ethernet ports and I added a third. One was for my internal network (LAN), one was for my mail servers (DMZ), and one was for my Internet router. You want to put your mail and web servers in a DMZ as they will be accessible to the public. This protects your internal network from malicious intrusions (you only open up what you need to between the DMZ and the LAN) so you will need to assign a new subnet to an existing switch for use in the DMZ. Also, you should use a Layer 3 switch to do your routing instead of a router. The throughput is so much faster and it is definately noticeable if you don't use one. My company has 200 employees, 3 mailservers and a RAS server. Our website is hosted offsite. The Layer 3 switch was an 11th hour surprise as we were told about the needfor it when the vendor came to install the PIX. We're using the Extreme Summit24 that cost $2,500. I love the ease of maintenance on both the PIX and the Summit24. I would definately have a vendor install it for you if you're not familiar enough with the equipment, as I wasn't, and just brush up on it. I'm very satisfied and comfortable with both.

by jcmcintyre

There are a lot of good Linux firewall/router
solutions available. The most popular is
Smoothwall, from www.smoothwall.org

Another good one is e-smith, from Mitel
networks. www.e-smith.org

Both of these firewalls allow browser-based
administration from a workstation, and include a
pre-packaged firewall rule set.

Yuo could also build your own firewall/router
using any Linux distribution. You will probably
nedd about an 800 MB hdd, and 64 cMb of RAM or
better

Cheers
Jim

by darthkim

I'd also recommend the Symantec Velociraptor. In addition of being a stateful inspection firewall, it does application layer proxying, further protecting your environment.

It also comes with built-in High Availability, Active failover.

This discussion is closed to new replies.