We performed a comparison between Palo Alto Networks VM-Series 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."It is useful for protecting and segregating the internal networks from the internet. Most of our customers also use the FortiGate client to connect to their offices by using the VPN client, and of course, they usually activate the antivirus, deep inspection, and intrusion prevention services. They are also using it for web filtering and implementing various policies dealing with forwardings, NAT, etc."
"This solution has helped our organization by having strong functions and a reliable firewall."
"It is a one box solution, which covers most of the edge device’s requirements."
"Whenever we raise a complaint with FortiGate, their response and resolution times are minimal."
"I have found Fortinet FortiGate to be scalable."
"FortiGate's web and URL filtering are unlike any other firewall I've used. The functionality of URL filtering in those solutions is problematic because everything is encrypted, and firewalls can't break that encryption protocol. Fortinet has an SSL proxy, so the encryption is done before the packet ever leaves the FortiGate. The URL filter is definitely one of the most helpful features."
"Fortigate represents a really scalable way of delivering perimeter network security, some level of layer 7 security, WAF, and also a way to create a meshed ADVPN solution."
"We have been able to offer several services to customers in a single box."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is the zero-trust security architecture."
"The most valuable features are security and support."
"Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is easy to maintain...From a security point of view, I find Palo Alto Networks VM-Series to be a better product compared to the other solutions in the market."
"Palo Alto’s Panorama centralized management system simplifies our security posture based on our requirements. Instead of manually pulling logs, then generating them into readable formats, it gives us the console in a readable format to view."
"AWS has improved our agility to apply firewall rules. It has reduced the amount of time that it takes to apply firewall rules because everything is based in the cloud."
"We now know a lot more detail about what our users are doing on the network."
"The feature that I have found the most useful is that it meets all our requirements technically."
"It has excellent scalability."
"One of the main features is the built-in storage capacity."
"It has good reporting, the reporting is marvelous."
"SD-WAN is a good feature."
"The most valuable feature is the Global Management System."
"Valuable features include a web filter, DHCP, and monitoring capabilities."
"Content Filtering and sandboxing are valuable features."
"The most valuable features are that it is reasonably-priced and works well."
"User-friendly with good security and application control."
"Maybe they could make some features more accessible, such as a way to translate directions between two networks that share the same subnets."
"Tunnel flapping was one of the major things I had seen wherein your internet link remains but your VPN tunnel is down. However, since I got a fix from the TAC team, I have not noticed it, but the customer complained a few times that they couldn't access the internet because of this problem."
"The solution could be more secure and stable."
"Its customer service could be better."
"In the balance between links feature normally you can just choose one option to balance. It would be better for the solution to have more than one option, preferably three."
"The support team for Fortinet FortiGate needs to be more customer friendly."
"The setup is pretty complex and not easy to implement."
"They should improve high CPU and memory usage that occurs."
"The one issue that I didn't like is that the SNMP integration with interfaces didn't record the interface counters."
"We have ran into issues with Palo Alto’s limitations for resolving large IP lists from DNS lookups, as well as the antivirus interfering with App-ID."
"There's room for improvement in terms of integration with the load balancer. It isn't like Fortinet, which has a load balancer built into its firewall. It is effortless to integrate within the load balancer-plus-firewall solution."
"Palo Alto Networks VM-Series needs to improve its order process."
"Palo Alto is that it is really bad when it comes to technical support."
"The product needs improvement in their Secure Access Service Edge."
"From time to time, they have released some content updates that have some issues, maybe twice a year."
"At the beginning of the implementation, we had some difficulties with the scripts, but Palo Alto Networks support together with a local partner finally fixed it."
"The user interface could be better."
"It would help us a lot of SonicWall sent us more information about the latest updates and things that are changing."
"The anti-spam requires a specific Java version on the server side (do not update it, otherwise it will break)."
"I would like to see better integration."
"Customer support is severely lacking with very slow response times."
"It's very hard to manage this box. You really need a lot of skills to operate the SonicWall. There is training and the like, but it's just hard to manage. Even if you have the knowledge, there are too many options. The menus are not very clear, where you should find the information."
"It is very modular and with native resources which are much lower than its competitors."
"I feel that the SSL VPN client software needs a lot of improvement."
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is ranked 10th in Firewalls with 52 reviews while SonicWall NSa is ranked 20th in Firewalls with 77 reviews. Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is rated 8.6, while SonicWall NSa is rated 7.8. The top reviewer of Palo Alto Networks VM-Series writes "Many features are optimized for troubleshooting real-time scenarios, saving a lot of time". On the other hand, the top reviewer of SonicWall NSa writes "Great performance and security with reasonable pricing". Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is most compared with Azure Firewall, Fortinet FortiGate-VM, Cisco Secure Firewall, Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls and Juniper SRX Series Firewall, whereas SonicWall NSa is most compared with SonicWall TZ, Meraki MX, Sophos XG, Cisco Secure Firewall and Netgate pfSense. See our Palo Alto Networks VM-Series vs. SonicWall NSa report.
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