Item: Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Rating: 9
Author: Sunil Kumar

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Palo
Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series is really a very good product in the category of NGFW firewalls--they have all the advance features that can help you tighten your perimeter gateway security layer. Their hold on and understanding about security threats and their deep understanding about the application helps us deal with a dynamically changing threat landscape. We are using Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series as a network firewall as well as a first layer of defense to deal with external threats. Configuration and administration of all the advance features is very easy and can be done via GUI, wo there's no need to remember so many CLI commands.
Very easy and robust up-gradation process.

Pros and Cons

Firewall performance during threat analysis
Wildfire support to protect from zero-day threats
Huge database of applications and behavior knowledge
Virtual wire inline deployment mode

In the field of GP VPN
Cloud segment
Third-party integration support

Return on Investment

It eliminates the need to use multiple vendor boxes for different inspections (e.g., URL filtering, IPS, UID, VPN, etc.)
Its VM series help us to tighten our cloud security
Its complete GUI base administration make our admins work easier

Alternatives Considered

Cisco ASA and Check Point 4000 Appliances

Biggest reason to select Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series over these products is for the performance during traffic inspection via various engines like UID, AppID, and ContentID. Another factor was both the other products were not very capable of providing such a strong URL filtering which Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series is providing during our POC. Also, administration can be done via GUI console completely with Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series, while in other two products, you have to play with CLI commands most of the time.

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

AlgoSec, F5 BIG-IP, McAfee ePolicy Orchestrator, Workspace ONE Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) Powered by AirWatch, Microsoft Teams, Slack, Cisco Webex Meetings, Palo Alto Panorama, Palo Alto Networks WildFire, Palo Alto Networks GlobalProtect Mobile Security Manager, Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering PAN-DB, Palo Alto Networks Threat Protection, Palo Alto Networks Virtualized Next-Generation Firewalls - VM Series, F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager, Microsoft Endpoint Manager (Microsoft Intune + SCCM), McAfee Advanced Threat Defense, AlienVault OSSIM

Likelihood to Recommend

Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series are best suited for threat hunting, web filtering, app detection, and user identification via the same box at gateway level, without impacting the performance of the firewall.

They are bit costlier firewalls, so they would not be suited for SOHO environments.

Best NGFW product I have ever worked with

Software Version

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