SonicWALL PRO 1260

[roadsweeper]

Hi

I'm looking at the SonicWALL PRO 1260 for a project requiring a robust and secure hardware firewall. We haven't used this model before so although it seems up-to-spec and SonicWALL have an excellent reputation I was wondering if anyone had any first-hand experience with them or any general comments to make about the PRO range? We'll be subscribing to the gateway anti-virus, intrusion prevention and reporting services.

Cheers.

roadie.

[ErnestM]

I don't have the 1260 but do have much experience with the 2040 with the 170 (both wireless and non wireless) on the other ends of a VPN. Also have some recent experience integrating SonicPoints for use with the 2040 and 170 (requires the updated SonicWall OS - about $500 US).

Ask away (or private email me) if you like...

ErnestM

[JamieBeeston]

Out of interest, why not a Cisco / Checkpoint solution.

I've always views the Sonicwalls as a 'budget' solution. We have 2 clients who use them, and they've never needed us to 'interfere' with them, so cant be all that bad.

We use Cisco for the majority of our firewalling, with Checkpoint for the larger budget clients.

[roadsweeper]

JamieBeeston said:

Out of interest, why not a Cisco / Checkpoint solution. I've always views the Sonicwalls as a 'budget' solution. We have 2 clients who use them, and they've never needed us to 'interfere' with them, so cant be all that bad. We use Cisco for the majority of our firewalling, with Checkpoint for the larger budget clients.

Hi Jamie

I looked at the CheckPoint Safe@Office 500 as well. The 500 has a faster throughput (with PowerPack) than the SonicWALL but the SonicWALL has a built-in 24-port switch and is cheaper. The firewall will be running on a 10Mb/s line so I'm not concerned about the SonicWALL's 90Mb/s throughput.

I looked at the Cisco PIX501 too. It had a low throughput and no built-in switch, though it was very cheap. I also didn't see an option for gateway anti-virus.

The SonicWALL comes with the options we need and the built-in switch saves money on an additional switch and also saves us 'U space' in the rack (all the kit is co-located) so it seems like the way to go. However, I'd obviously be interested in hearing more from you if you still have reservations as I realise this is an area that your business must deal with all the time?

Cheers.

roadie.

PS: FYI I also looked at the Watchguard Firevox X500 and the Netgear FVX538. The former got poor reviews for functionality whilst the latter got poor reviews for reliability.

[roadsweeper]

ErnestM said:

I don't have the 1260 but do have much experience with the 2040 with the 170 (both wireless and non wireless) on the other ends of a VPN. Also have some recent experience integrating SonicPoints for use with the 2040 and 170 (requires the updated SonicWall OS - about $500 US). Ask away (or private email me) if you like... ErnestM

Hi Ernest

We looked at the 2040 with its 200Mb/s throughput but we didn't need that level of performance and it doesn't have a built-in switch. I did really like it's VPN capabilties and anti-spam functionality, but I couldn't justify the expense.

So, I guess what I'm looking for is your opinion on reliability, functionality, etc. I was scared away from the Netgear FVX538 despite its functionality and low cost because they simply don't have enterprise-class reliability in my opinion. So, is there functionality missing from the SonicWALLs that you'd like to see? How easy are they to configure? Are there common causes of downtime? Do you subscribe to their IPS and anti-virus services and if so how do you find them?

Thanks in advance.

roadie.

[JamieBeeston]

The Cisco PiX's dont come with AntiVirus, they are just Firewalls.. solid and robust.. but just firewalls with VPN.
The checkpoint solutions do come with AV / Packet Sniffing / Adaptive blocking (will scan the packets for anything nasty, like code red for example, and strip it out BEFORE it even hits your server.. will upgrade SSL connections on the fly from v2 to v3 to ensure that even if you're not running the latest versions, you're protected...) but it costs multi £k

You can pick up a 24 port cisco switch for < £300 now. if U space is an issue, just mount them back to back (Switch at the front of the cab, Firewall at the back) both units are only 6-7inches deep!

I've not had any bad experiences with the Sonicwalls, but thats mostly because i've not had any real experience with them, its more a general perception of the brand.

Worst case, if you find it locks you out / underperforms, you can always ditch it.

J

[roop]

I have experience with SonicWALL Pro VPN firewalls. We had two die within two years for no aparrent reason, just completely bricked. Support was good and I got them swapped out same day (had to make a 500 mile round trip to get the replcements though). Ended up with a spare PC and software firewall solution on standby which should never really be neccessary. This was going back 3 or so years though - hopefully they are better now.

Having said all this, when they were working (ie 99%+ of the time) they were very good.

[roadsweeper]

JamieBeeston said:

if U space is an issue, just mount them back to back (Switch at the front of the cab, Firewall at the back) both units are only 6-7inches deep!

Good point!

[ErnestM]

roadsweeper said:

ErnestM said: I don't have the 1260 but do have much experience with the 2040 with the 170 (both wireless and non wireless) on the other ends of a VPN. Also have some recent experience integrating SonicPoints for use with the 2040 and 170 (requires the updated SonicWall OS - about $500 US). Ask away (or private email me) if you like... ErnestM Hi Ernest We looked at the 2040 with its 200Mb/s throughput but we didn't need that level of performance and it doesn't have a built-in switch. I did really like it's VPN capabilties and anti-spam functionality, but I couldn't justify the expense. So, I guess what I'm looking for is your opinion on reliability, functionality, etc. I was scared away from the Netgear FVX538 despite its functionality and low cost because they simply don't have enterprise-class reliability in my opinion. So, is there functionality missing from the SonicWALLs that you'd like to see? How easy are they to configure? Are there common causes of downtime? Do you subscribe to their IPS and anti-virus services and if so how do you find them? Thanks in advance. roadie.

I've had the 2040 up and running for 3 years straight without an issue. The only "problem" that I had was one in which I didn't RTFM (). When you switch from the standard OS to the enhanced, you have to reconfigure the OS from scratch so it would behoove you to right down your settings as you can't just back up the standard settings and reload them into the enhanced.

I didn't nee the switch capabilities as I was looking for a firewall/VPN only solution. We use it to give our remote sales reps access to the LAN via VPN tunnels. It does what it says on the tin. It's easy to configure. Just remember to keep up your support agreements with SonicWall and everything works perefectly. 1 to 1 NAT works very well too. The SonicPoints are a good added feature. When we have our monthly sales meetings, the sales reps all bring their laptops to the main office and can simply turn them on and be up and running with no reconfiguration. POE works like a dream on the sonicpoints as well.

Reliability 10 out of 10.
Features 10 out of 10.
A/V 10 out of 10.
VPN capability 10 out of 10.

ErnestM

PS: I looked at Cisco as well but it was too expensive for what I was trying to accomplish.

[roadsweeper]

Thanks for the post ErnestM, much appreciated. I think I'll go ahead with the SonicWALL as it seems to be the most fit for purpose on this occasion.

Just for the information of others, my second choice would have been the CheckPoint Safe@Office 500 which looked an excellent unit.

Thanks to everyone else for contributing too.