Which Firewall And Why !!!

[[WebCarnage]]

hey i use zonealarm, whats the best firewall to use?

Uhm... are you kidding?

[brokencrow]

I've resorted to Zone Alarm on this W2K laptop after trying a couple of different ones, but it can be a pain. Sygate was my fav, but it's outdated and no longer in development, so I've given up on it. On my XP laptop, I'm perfectly content with the Windows firewall. I don't use any firewall software on my desktop/server units (they're always behind a gateway).

It's hard to beat a dedicated firewall/gateway, even if it's a $50 router. All the better if it's IPcop, Smoothwall, ClarkConnect, or a custom unit.

[shockwaveX343]

Alphashield Hardware Firewall simple to install/setup and it blocks everything.

[architect23]

I use ISA Server 2004 and planning on using ISA Server 2006. If you use a Windows or even use any Windows Applications I would say it's a no brainer to have an ISA box somewhere on your network even if it's not your front end firewall, it's very easy to setup for VPN and also web caching. It also makes a firewall in general. I know most people would laugh at using a Microsoft solution for security but I would have to say that ISA 2004 and up is an exception it really is a pretty good secure product.

[caveman8fb]

Wow nobody else uses Checkpoint?

I mean I use ipfw at home and simple iptables scripts on servers, but our internet facing firewalls run Checkpoint NGX SecurePlatform.

[Highlander]

I use IP-Cop at www.ipcop.org
and OpenVPN at www.openvpn.se
and a bunch of plugin's I have 8 of these in service
now... Overall it is easy to install. I use an old computer
with 2 NIC's Windows 98 Boxes work real well...
I have used New Dells due to customer preferences
and I was short of old boxes. (Nice to Recycle!!)

Only drawback, You have to install 2 of the packages
from the command line, and a working knowelege of
Linux is good too!!!

[cbo]

OpenBSD 3.8 running on a soekris box

/cbo

[SirDice]

I've used and managed all sorts of Firewalls...

Cisco PIX, Checkpoint FW/1 (on Nokia hardware), Juniper NetScreen, PF on Open- and FreeBSD, FreeBSD IPFilter (ipf). They all have their pros and cons, use the one that bests suits your situation.

The guy that said he's using iptables on FreeBSD (I've been using FBSD since 3.0) just made my day