I have worked with firewalls from many vendors. They always did the job, but were complex and time consuming to administer. I helped a client with a new Palo Alto firewall that they had installed, and it has been amazing.
I know that most people don’t want to hear about firewalls, but I have to share my experience with this firewall. For most small companies, they don’t choose to employ or can’t afford, the most technically skilled people. This makes a dangerous combination because it not only opens up security holes, but also introduces costly problems into the environment.
Every small business I have ever worked with, had very serious problems in just keeping their environment going. The skills of most people who know things, tend to be used in larger environments where they can get more money. I like working in small business because you can have a relationship with your clients. That is more rewarding to me, than working with the latest hardware.
So why is a Palo Alto all that and a bag of chips? It combines so many things into one easy to use system. Here are the top 5 advantages I see.
Why Palo Alto is superior
- Easy to use interface. It is intuitive, and has easy and well written help.
- Web filtering capabilities. You can easily see a list of websites that people visit, and even details about that session.
- Nice links to easily research problems. If there is a problem there is normally something you can click on, and get more information. Without any training, I was able to find security issues and respond to them to stop the problem.
- Easy additional options. It appears that there is further options to make the device even more useful. I can’t wait to make the case to management of that client that those options will help secure their environment even more.
- Great support. The vendor who installed it is knowledgeable and helped get over the initial hurdle of familiarity. It works great in the environment, even better than the old Sonic wall that kept having issues and slowdowns.
I have used many kinds of Firewalls from many companies, but this has been the best designed, most informative, and easiest to use. What a great breakthrough this is in firewall administration.
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