Hardware Firewall?

[gazzie]

Does BODhost have any hardware firewall for servers, and if so, what kind? Are there any additional charges to using a hardware firewall? I've gotten by with only a software firewall in the past but I've heard from people that a hardware firewall is better, so I'd like to know if there's any benefit to using a hardware firewall at all.

[BodShane]

Hello,

We definitely offer Hardware Firewall on our dedicated server hosting packages. Please view the following link for more information :

Dedicated Server Hardware Firewall

Hardware Firewall are definitely more reliable than any software firewall. Please let us know if you need any additional information.

Regards,

Shane Phillips

[markrd]

Originally Posted by Shane Phillips

Hello,

We definitely offer Hardware Firewall on our dedicated server hosting packages. Please view the following link for more information :

Dedicated Server Hardware Firewall

Hardware Firewall are definitely more reliable than any software firewall. Please let us know if you need any additional information.

Regards,

Shane Phillips

Hi Shane,

What is the difference in hardware firewall protection over software? I guess I'm going to need this spelled out to me in a non-tech format if possible.

[BodShane]

Here are few points that differ a hardware firewall from a software one :

Hardware Firewalls can be purchased as stand-alone product. Hardware firewall doesn't require any configuration. Hardware Firewall uses packer filtering to examine packet header to check it's source and destination. It basically requires a hardware appliance to attach to the server.

Software firewalls are normally for home users. They are installed on the servers and can be customized as per requirements. However, you cannot compare a software firewall to a hardware firewall appliances in terms of security and protection. It does have it's own limitations. They do not protect the network and only work on the server that they are installed on. It also utilizes resources of the server.

Hope it helps!

Regards,

Shane Phillips

[gazzie]

Thanks for the additional info, Shane! So, from what you're saying, it sounds like a hardware firewall is the way to go if you want assured protection against DDOS attacks. If a software firewall uses up system resource, then a heavy DDOS attack on a server using only a software firewall would essentially bring it down, wouldn't it?

By the way, does a hardware firewall protect agains hack attempts, or is that a different thing entirely?

[BodShane]

In respect with DDOS attacks, hardware firewalls are much preferable. However, if you receive heavy DDOS attack, then in that case you should consider a Proxy shield which is in addition to the hardware firewall.

Hacking attempts are completely in relation to Server security and are part of managed services.

When we speak of hacking attempts, it may also indicate to block of ports or services that run on the server.

Regards,

Shane Phillips

[ljonston]

Originally Posted by gazzie

Thanks for the additional info, Shane! So, from what you're saying, it sounds like a hardware firewall is the way to go if you want assured protection against DDOS attacks. If a software firewall uses up system resource, then a heavy DDOS attack on a server using only a software firewall would essentially bring it down, wouldn't it?

By the way, does a hardware firewall protect agains hack attempts, or is that a different thing entirely?

In most cases, software firewall should be enough, unless you need some extra server protection.

[Spooky]

Hmm... now this is an interesting discussion. I do have a question, though. Say that you have a VPN... does a single hardware firewall protect all the server nodes in your VPN or do you need one for each node?

[squishy]

Well, there are things like VPN firewalls, though I'm not sure if it's the same kind as the firewalls being discussed here. From the description on the page Shane linked to, though, it's probably the same.