One Too Many - No Single Firewall Solution is Right for Everyone Bismarck ND

In the last few weeks, three of my friends--who also happen to be owners of small or medium-sized businesses--have struggled with the decision about which firewall solutions are right for their companies. All three asked lots of questions and sought out information on firewalls. Ultimately, all ended up choosing different solutions. One chose a Linux-based firewall, another chose personal firewall software, and the last chose a hardware-based firewall.

Why did these folks each choose different solutions? Simply put, their user base, network configurations, and network usage were very, very different. For example, the man who chose to use a Linux-based firewall operates a 100-person software development firm that uses internal IP numbers and Network Address Translation (NAT), has multiple internal servers, and operates from a single company location. In addition, his company wanted to migrate away from Windows and Internet Information Server (IIS) to Linux and Apache due to security concerns with IIS.

By contrast, the woman who chose the personal firewall software operates a five-person accounting firm. Her network of machines operates in a peer-to-peer fashion and all five are connected to the Internet directly via separate public IP addresses. She purchased five licenses for a software-based firewall and outfitted each machine with the software.

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