Rating the standalone firewalls

ZDNet Australia has updated its firewall review with a new set of players.

What's different this time? Standalone firewalls are hard to find. ZDNet AU says:

These days it is actually difficult to source a purely stand-alone firewall. In fact, most routers cover this basic function and we even see network switches that adopt this role at a port-by-port level.

Roll the reviews:

Astaro Security Gateway 525

Juniper Networks SSG550M

SonicWALL E-Class NSA E5500

WatchGuard Firebox X6500e UTM

IBM ISS Proventia MFS MX3006

Given the various price points, no definitive winner was chosen, but the money quote appears to be this:

For its sheer ease of configuration and use, the IBM product rates highly. For a feature-packed family product-range the gong goes to SonicWALL, but you will need to ensure your security architects plan carefully. The Astaro and Juniper solutions are very well designed and nicely suited to the larger enterprise. For cost effective scalability in a business that is growing, WatchGuard's golden screwdriver software upgrade path is a likely choice.