The only firewall to provide graphical visualization of applications on the network with a detailed user, group and network-level data categorized by sessions, bytes, ports, threats and time.The only firewall with real-time (line-rate, low latency) content scanning to protect against viruses, spyware, data leakage and application vulnerabilities based on a stream-based threat prevention engine.The only firewall to identify, control and inspect SSL encrypted traffic and applications.The only firewall to classify traffic based on the accurate identification of the application, not just port/protocol information.Here are some of the unique capabilities available only in next-generation firewalls from Palo Alto Networks: Then I read this on their website… and it all became clear: But again, nothing earth-shattering there. All good investment firms with respectable portfolios. They have Greylock, Sequoia, and Globespan. But who isn’t? The board is all seasoned people. Nir Zuk is a smart guy if a little self-absorbed. Okay, so in the raw specs, they’re a UTM / NGFW. Hmmm, technically they have good specs, but nothing unique. They can inspect SSL traffic, cool, so can a Fortinet or a Blue Coat for that matter. They also tout their AppID stuff which lets them pick out applications among network traffic, okay that is cool. They do IPS and web filtering, and all the normal unified threat management (UTM) type of stuff (or Next-Generation Firewall, NGFW, in their parlance). They scale from small to large with reasonable ease. Their devices pass traffic and have decent throughput speeds. Are these people going to be relocating to a jungle compound soon? Will they be handing out Kool-Aid soon? (Maybe it will be Kool-ID.) Moreover, the buzz around them is downright scary.
While my hands-on experience with their devices has been mostly positive, I am skeptical of any technology that seems “too popular.” Palo Alto’s rise up the firewall stack is rather baffling.
Palo Alto Networks seems to walk on water and deliver unto the faithful the warming glow of a super cool firewall. I have seen people adamantly refuse to even look at competing products once they get a taste of those sweet Palo Alto boxes. I have observed reasonable companies spend two to four times what a comparable Juniper, Cisco or Fortinet would cost, so they can have that special Palo Alto love. What the heck is it with Palo Alto Networks? I have said before they seem more like a cult than a firewall manufacturer.
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