SonicWall Targets SMBs

The platform, called the TZ (Trusted Zone) 170 series, is an appliance that runs SonicWall's firewall, VPN, and optional antivirus and content-filtering technology with management capabilities via its Global Management System. SMB clients also have the option of using ViewPoint, a lower-end reporting and monitoring tool, with the appliance.

The TZ 170 series is built on a chip architecture that provides VPN performance of more than 30 Mbits per second, said Douglas Brockett, vice president of worldwide marketing at SonicWall, Sunnyvale, Calif.

"For the price range of this product, SMBs get pretty amazing performance. It also has a built-in, five-port switch with an optional port, which can be used to connect to a redundant Internet connection," Brockett said. "This allows VARs to offer customers two broadband connections and an appliance that share the load. And if one connection fails, it fails over to the other one, which is a business-continuity feature that VARs have been asking us for."

The TZ 170 series costs $495 to $895, depending on the number of nodes in a customer's network.

"This bundles enterprise functionality for the SMB budget," said Bill Starbuck, account manager at Network Support, a Danbury, Conn.-based network integrator. "It's not only a firewall but also a secure wireless access point, which is something SMBs should be considering. This will also appeal to customers because it's very easy to add the box to a network, and the new operating system is very user-friendly."

With SonicWall's channel-only strategy, partners are responsible for deploying and managing the appliances, Brockett said. SonicWall supports VARs mainly through its distributors: Ingram Micro, Tech Data and Bell Microproducts.

SonicWall recently won a deal with Rent-A-Center to deploy 2,700 secure wireless gateways, but it turned the deal over to VAR Hi-Touch to deploy and manage the appliances, Brockett said. "Some companies may have been tempted to take this one direct, but we live and die by the channel," he said.

Brockett said SonicWall expects to release a new version of its content-filtering service that gives a more granular look at the types of information VARs can filter.