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Firewall Suggestion??

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by stahler1 1 view

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Small to mid size company with 30 onsite users and 130 off site. Frame relay connected between each site. Most sites have there own Internet connection(cable/dsl). Several web servers at the corporate site and would like to run NFUSE as well, can't right now because of our current firewall config, lack of knowledge and discontinued support from old consultants(Cisco firewall). Would like a firewall that gives us the ability to allow VPN access for remote users and also would allow users to use this if the Frame would go down. I have consultants that are recommending either Raptor or Checkpoint. Both firewalls sound like some of the best in the business but is there a cheaper solution out there that we can rely on? Any opinion would be appreciated. Thanks

15 replies

by justanadmin

Agreed on Sonicwall.

Checkpoint is going much too deep for your requirements and could easily cost you too much to implement and maintain.

by ann777

You know, the Cisco PIX firewall should be just fine with VPN and all the rest. Sounds like what you really need to do is find a local consultant willing to look at your current firewall, upgrade its NOS if needed, and configure it according to your needs. You should have hard copy of it's current configuration; or obtain hc if you have the passwords necessary to access it.

by ann777

Are the 130 users all at a few remote locations? Or are most at 1 or 2 person offices? SonicWall is an alternative with their Pro 330 (supports 200 remote users; the Pro 300 only supports 50 remote users). The Pro 330 used to run $4000... butit looks like the price was dropped down at the beginning of the year.

I'd advise looking at what you've got (and whether or not it can be upgraded to suit your needs) before deciding on the alternative of reconfiguring with a different firewall. Also make sure you get training in configuring (modifying the configuration), maintaining and operating whatever you decide to go with.

by stahler1

Actually to answer one of your questions, we have 7 remote sites set up on our Frame. With different amounts of users and fram speeds from 128 to 768. I do not see us expanding our users at our remote sites or probably not even locally. We have atotal of 160 users on the whole network.

by pabica

I agree with the PIX answer. What version of PIXs are you using? were they ever set up to do firewall to firewall VPN?

I recently worked on a nationwide Frame network (>100 sites) where the customer was gradually moving from Frame to PIX-to-PIXVPNs... in their corporate site they will implement a Cisco VPN concentrator for local users..

If your remote users all are concentrated at a few remote sites, use a PIX (501) at the remote site... and perhaps a more powerful PIX at the core.. [a PIX 501 should be available for less than $500]

The PIX is your best (and most economical) option...

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