FreeNAS vs. Sophos Firewall

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
FreeNAS
Score 5.5 out of 10
N/A
FreeNAS is an open source operating system that allows nearly any hardware serve as a network-attached storage device. It was developed by iXsystems.N/A
Sophos Firewall
Score 8.8 out of 10
N/A
Sophos XG Firewall provides comprehensive next-generation firewall protection powered by deep learning and Synchronized Security. Sophos Firewall supplies insights and exposes hidden user, application, and threat risks on the network, and say the product is differentiated by its ability to respond automatically to security incidents by isolating compromised systems, with Security Heartbeat™.N/A
Pricing
FreeNASSophos Firewall
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
FreeNASSophos Firewall
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
FreeNASSophos Firewall
Features
FreeNASSophos Firewall
Firewall
Comparison of Firewall features of Product A and Product B
FreeNAS
-
Ratings
Sophos Firewall
9.3
14 Ratings
7% above category average
Identification Technologies00 Ratings9.314 Ratings
Visualization Tools00 Ratings9.014 Ratings
Content Inspection00 Ratings9.314 Ratings
Policy-based Controls00 Ratings9.414 Ratings
Active Directory and LDAP00 Ratings9.313 Ratings
Firewall Management Console00 Ratings9.614 Ratings
Reporting and Logging00 Ratings9.114 Ratings
VPN00 Ratings8.814 Ratings
High Availability00 Ratings9.414 Ratings
Stateful Inspection00 Ratings9.314 Ratings
Proxy Server00 Ratings9.611 Ratings
Best Alternatives
FreeNASSophos Firewall
Small Businesses
DiskStation
DiskStation
Score 8.8 out of 10
pfSense
pfSense
Score 8.6 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Dell Unity XT Unified Storage
Dell Unity XT Unified Storage
Score 8.8 out of 10
Quantum Firewalls and Security Gateways
Quantum Firewalls and Security Gateways
Score 9.2 out of 10
Enterprises
Dell Unity XT Unified Storage
Dell Unity XT Unified Storage
Score 8.8 out of 10
Palo Alto Networks Virtualized Next-Generation Firewalls - VM Series
Palo Alto Networks Virtualized Next-Generation Firewalls - VM Series
Score 9.1 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
FreeNASSophos Firewall
Likelihood to Recommend
9.0
(7 ratings)
9.5
(14 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
9.7
(5 ratings)
Support Rating
8.0
(1 ratings)
9.1
(2 ratings)
User Testimonials
FreeNASSophos Firewall
Likelihood to Recommend
iXsystems
FreeNAS is well suited for most storage serving scenarios, whether it be for an office file server, backup destinations, data replication across the internet, or as backend storage for virtual machines. It can serve various types of clients via a plethora of standard protocols and can easily integrate with existing infrastructure using LDAP authentication and so on. It's pretty simple to use (it helps to have at least a basic understanding of the underlying technologies) and almost maintenance-free. One scenario that springs to mind that it may not be appropriate for (yet) is as S3 storage. However, S3 functionality was added in a recent release and may have improved greatly since then. I'm sure it will eventually work very well for this.
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Sophos
It is well-suited for small, medium, and large organizations looking for comprehensive cybersecurity protection. It will not only safeguard their network from cyberattacks but also provide them with many advanced features like deep packet inspection, centralized management, web filtering, application control, etc. in one place. It will help them optimize bandwidth and ensure continued connectivity.
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Pros
iXsystems
  • The FreeNAS web interface is modern looking. It makes tasks like provisioning drives into raid volumes easy.
  • The ZFS raid option allows you to add in an SSD as a cache drive to increase performance.
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Sophos
  • Web filtering. This allows us to monitor web usage and block certain categories from being access at the perimeter.
  • Application Control. With application control we can block certain applications that get categorized from working accessing the Internet.
  • Synchronized Security. When utilizing the Sophos Endpoint product you can use Synchronized Security to minimize Lateral Movement in a network. If a machine is shows a Red status you can auto-isolate it and it is unable to communicate with anything else on the network.
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Cons
iXsystems
  • Not good for beginners as it requires deep understanding of networking and storage.
  • Most of the good and required features are not available in free version.
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Sophos
  • If using Endpoint security and the Firewall it would be nice to have an easier back and forth between the portals rather than have two separate tabs open. Especially if using more than one in multiple locations.
  • If dealing with different revisions options are moved around and sometimes in places that doesn't normally seem like they should be there.
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Usability
iXsystems
No answers on this topic
Sophos
Because this is a user-friendly interface, and anyone can use it there are multiple articles and guidelines available, it has advanced-level security features. they provide VPN solutions all the features are very practical, SSID MAC-based authentications web control, Firewall rules segregation of the rules and policies, On-premises Active directory single sign-on feature is also available.
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Support Rating
iXsystems
There were some things that can be found by other users on forums and Google and some things that were not.
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Sophos
As we are all addicted to graphics-oriented interfaces for all our life products. Easy to manage and access as a good way of using anything
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Alternatives Considered
iXsystems
FreeNAS effectively uses all resources really well and it is highly recommended for in premises NAS. It has unlimited ROI as it is really free and open-source. The only payment we need to pay is when we need any support from those guys. FreeNAS helps us to effectively do our work with the legacy systems as it manages all the components really well. FreeNAS although rebranded to TrueNAS will still be there until our legacy systems run.
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Sophos
I was a big fan of Cisco ASA products, but when I saw all of the security feature differences between both firewalls, I moved to Sophos devices. Its sandbox, IPS, and many more features are really advanced. Cisco does not provide features like this.
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Return on Investment
iXsystems
  • Low-Cost Network Attached Storage
  • Provides additional network storage to support client & business operations
  • FreeNAS secures our data using custom encryption keys
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Sophos
  • True UTM device.
  • Very Active customer help for any help.
  • Easy license and cost effective.
  • Should [do] more work on logging and reporting.
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ScreenShots

Sophos Firewall Screenshots

Screenshot of Sophos Firewall v17.5 Control Center