Re: Firewall Comparisons

From: <jamesworld(at)intelligencia.com>
Date: Mon Jun 30 2003 - 21:39:11 EDT

I can speak with some authority for the PIX - the OS is ROCK - best I've seen on a firewall. It runs and that's it. period. 515E can support either 3 or 6 interfaces and the functionality is very reliable. The management can be done from any machine with either combination (serial port (requires proximity) or IP address). One firewall you can realistically 'set it and forget it" once you have the thing PROPERLY configured!!!! (I am sure that there will be flames on this but it's true) the only thing that would be appropriate to modify would be shuns or IP blocks if you needed to. (I'm certified on the PIX)

WatchGuard - Neat features. NOT a stable box. Not at all. I've probably rebuilt, troubleshot crashed from plain rule base changes more than any other firewall. Every OS upgrade ''seem's'' to get a bit better. 'When' it works, it does - alright. I DO NOT like that there is a separate application that is needed to operate/configure the thing (same with Checkpoint). If that machine ever dies and you just happen to NEED to get into the box to work on it (Mr Murphy) your screwed. You need to install the app on a separate machine and then patch it then you can finally work. ( I am certified on this too)

Netscreen - Nice throughput, the OS is not quite 'there' yet, but it's very close. The built in authentication fir LDAP and Active Directory are nice features. [I am still a fan of authentication mechanism's outside of TACACS or RADIUS to reside on a separate device.server] - personal prference] ( I am not certified on this device yet)

Whatever you chose.........monitor the logs. That is the critical point that crosses ALL firewalls.

At 14:59 6/27/2003, Joseph wrote:
>I'm looking for a site that has some good firewall comparisons. I'm looking

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Received on Wed Jul 2 13:20:27 2003