We performed a comparison between Azure Firewall and SonicWall NSa based on real PeerSpot user reviews.
Find out in this report how the two Firewalls solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI."The product is very stable, easy to troubleshoot, and configure, so it has reduced the time it takes for support."
"UTM/NGFW features and FortiCloud for logs and backups are awesome."
"The scalability is good in Fortinet FortiGate."
"It is easy to use. We chose this product for the possibility to have virtual domains (VDOMs). We are building another company in the group, and we would like to split the firewalling rules and policies between these two companies. Each company would be able to manage its own policies and security rules, which is an advantage of Fortinet FortiGate. We can define VDOMs, and every company can manage its own VDOM as if it has its own physical firewall, but in fact, we would be using the same physical appliance because we are also using the same internet lines. So, it allows us to reuse the existing resources without the disadvantage of having to compromise on policies and security. Each company can choose its own way of working."
"The most valuable feature of Fortinet FortiGate is load balancing. It can provide central management and VPNA. Additionally, it has enhanced our security environment."
"The solution is very easy to understand. It's not overly complex."
"This product is definitely scalable."
"Secure, user-friendly, stable, and scalable network security solution. Installation is straightforward."
"Azure Firewall's feature that I have found most valuable is its scalability."
"One of the best features is that it natively integrates with Azure Services and tools. When you have a third-party offering, that is not the case. But Azure Firewall provides a comprehensive and seamless security solution for your Azure resources."
"Azure Firewall is a cloud-native solution that removes the pain of load balancers."
"We secure the entry point to the virtual data center with the firewall."
"The most valuable feature is threat intelligence. It is based on filtering and can identify multiple threats."
"Azure's cost-effectiveness is its major advantage."
"The solution should be capable of self-scaling, which is one of the features we like about it."
"One of the notable advantages of Azure Firewall is its user-friendly interface, which closely resembles or shares similarities with other Azure components."
"User friendly and intuitive."
"They offer good antivirus solutions."
"It's very flexible and meets our customer's needs."
"The features that I have found most valuable are the firewalling, which is very good and the GUI which is very intuitive. It is easy to use, and provides great security."
"Valuable features include a web filter, DHCP, and monitoring capabilities."
"SD-WAN is a good feature."
"SonicWall NSa's most valuable features are the ease of configuration and the GUI."
"I really like the performance; there are no delays and no latency, which is a unique quality in firewalls nowadays."
"The debugging and troubleshooting has room for improvement."
"One area for improvement is the performance on bandwidth demands for smaller devices, as well as better web filtering."
"The graphical user interface of Fortinet's FortiGate product does not function well with text-based interfaces."
"With the reports, you can see it, and you can get good feelings so upper management can go, "Oh, wow. That looks pretty." However, it's very basic."
"The way everything is set up could be easier. Currently, people need a lot of experience and knowledge to administer it and to link it to devices."
"There can be more security in hybrid implementations. When a customer has a hybrid environment where some parts are in the cloud, we need a consistent security solution for such scenarios."
"It would be nice if backups could more easily migrate between different models."
"Their software support needs improvement. I would prefer to have better support for bug fixes. Sometimes, we open a ticket, and it is very difficult to get a solution. Specifically, we are not at all happy with their support for load balancing."
"There is room for further integration of AI into the system."
"The development area and QA area could be improved. With those improvements, we can improve projects and take even less time to implement them."
"Azure has new versions including a premium firewall. But I would like to see them not put the premium features on Azure Firewall Premium alone because it is quite expensive."
"Azure Firewall should have a free trial version for new users so that they can evaluate it before deploying it."
"The solution lacks artificial intelligence and machine learning. It might be in the roadmap. However, currently, it's not available."
"Right now, with Azure Firewall, we cannot have a normal inbound traffic flow. For inbound, Microsoft suggests using application gateways, so the options are very limited. I cannot use this firewall as an intermediate firewall because of the limitations, and I cannot point routing to another firewall. So if I want to use back-to-back firewall architecture in my environment, I cannot use Azure Firewall for that type of configuration either."
"There are a number of things that need to be simplified, but it's mostly costs. It needs to be simplified because it's pretty expensive."
"The solution should incorporate features similar to competitors like split tunneling."
"There are a few areas that need improvement including the VPN, user management, and reporting."
"The problem primarily with SonicWall is it's a Unix box. And it's all software, all the activities, blocking, censoring, everything has to happen in the software. If you start hitting the box with a lot of sessions it slows down and that's not what I expect from a firewall."
"One issue with the solution is that no authorization or authentication features exist."
"The only thing that we would want would be single-pane management, which it has, but the GMS is not very good. It's purely the management of multiple devices for multiple customers, that's the only thing that it's lacking."
"A room for improvement in SonicWall NSa is the log server because it could be more user-friendly compared to Fortinet and Palo Alto Networks. My company has many rule sets up for review, so sometimes, my team needs to use Excel for filtering, but the UI cannot support the Excel function."
"It only has a single power interface, which has limitations in terms of high availability."
"The reporting and monitoring are a bit complex and should be easier in SonicWall NSa because other firewalls I have experienced have been more simple, such as Palo Alto. We are able to receive a clear view of our network. As a general user with little experience, it would be difficult for them to handle."
"They are not ready for managed security services. Their Cloud GMS product is weak, barely out of beta (buggy)."
Azure Firewall is ranked 21st in Firewalls with 33 reviews while SonicWall NSa is ranked 19th in Firewalls with 80 reviews. Azure Firewall is rated 7.2, while SonicWall NSa is rated 7.8. The top reviewer of Azure Firewall writes "Easy to use and configure but could be more robust". On the other hand, the top reviewer of SonicWall NSa writes "Great performance and security with reasonable pricing". Azure Firewall is most compared with Fortinet FortiGate-VM, Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls, Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Palo Alto Networks VM-Series and Check Point NGFW, whereas SonicWall NSa is most compared with SonicWall TZ, Meraki MX, Sophos XG, Cisco Secure Firewall and Netgate pfSense. See our Azure Firewall vs. SonicWall NSa report.
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