Item: Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Rating: 9
Author: Verified User

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

The Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series firewalls are being used to protect the internal assets to our organization as well as being sold to other customers to help provide them threat protection. The customer use case varies greatly and this product allows all of our customers to be provided a level of protection to fit their needs. The GUI driven interface has allow our support staff to develop their skill set rapidly with this product.

Pros and Cons

Security performance
Implementation
Managment

Cloud features
Value
Support

Return on Investment

Virtual platform has allowed for great hardware cost decrease
Multi tenancy options have been great

Alternatives Considered

We put Palo Alto in place over Cisco ASA as a product set. Until a few years ago, Cisco didn’t have a next-generation firewall, primarily meaning their appliances didn’t have application identification or control. Since their acquisition of
Sourcefire, however, they’ve reintroduced the X series with FirePOWER, which includes these features. FirePOWER has been nothing but a pain to implement, install, maintain, and upgrade. I would highly suggest this not be your solution if you want anything other than firewalling and VPN.

Support Rating

The support staff with Palo Alto have been very responsive and worked with us to solve any and all issues. Complex issues do take some time, but they do a good job staying engaged and working through the problem until resolution. The support portal has been great to use and setting up admin users is very easy compared to others I have used.

Key Insights

Do you think Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series's feature set?

Yes

Did Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series again?

Yes

Other Software Used

SolidFire, Cisco UCS B-Series, Acronis Backup Cloud

Likelihood to Recommend

Palo Alto's advanced features, like application visibility, make it a very attractive product.The the sluggishness of Palo Alto's Panorama interface when managing a large number of appliances is sometimes a pain point. There is continual development into the product which makes it very easy to use and the constant improvements have made our clients very happy. The security patching is easy and the HA works without issue. If you really want to be in the CLI to manage your firewall then this may not be the product for you. It is very GUI driven to do almost all of the functions to setup
and troubleshoot the devices as a whole.

Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls

Software Version

Overall Satisfaction with Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series