Bake-Off: Unified Threat Management Appliances

SonicWall TZ 180
Many solution providers servicing SMBs may not have a lot of expertise in security. This is where a powerful UTM tool such as SonicWall's TZ 180 comes in. Though less capable than the wireless TZ 190, the TZ 180 beats most competitors in the UTM space. The TZ 180 arrives with the most comprehensive set of UTM security features.

At its core, SonicWall appliances are able to scan content of realtime data streams without having to buffer files in memory and slow down inspections based on file size. Whenever the TZ 180 performs deep-packet inspections, network throughput is not noticeably affected. Engineers tested the appliance by downloading various size files and found little change in access and data transfer time.

Other UTM appliances on the market have to depend on hard drives, or vendors have to increase memory for buffering, or impose limits on the size of the files that are inspected. Traditional packet inspection algorithms can check headers efficiently because the files are small. However, scanning entire packet structures requires that every bit is covered, so algorithms have to perform extremely fast.

The TZ 180 is a second-generation UTM product. The company has tweaked the software so it's able to keep up with business-class cable and DSL connections. TZ 180's deep-scanning process checks the packets for signatures that match its database. In addition, the TZ 180 is able to provide stateful packet inspection. SonicWall's TotalSecure solution for the TZ 180 includes one year support for AV, antispyware gateway and intrusion-prevention services. SonicWall works with solution providers during subscription periods. The TZ 180 also offers a year of content-filtering services, which includes protection against phishing attacks. SonicWall updates its appliances regularly with lists of phishing sites.

The TZ 180 is extremely simple to install. The installation steps are wizard-driven once the appliance is registered. For this review, SonicWall activated most gateway services, a desktop and server software service, and various support services. On MySonicWall.com, solution providers are able to manage different UTM products and maintain various licenses.

The services-management features on the site are simple to follow. When working with multiple products, solution providers can create groups to simplify administration. However, when managing multiple customers, it's easier to create product groups as well as user lists.

Unlike the other vendors in the review, the appliance virtually automates the entire installation process. In a matter of minutes, solution providers can have an entire network running under the TZ 180 box. Like other competing UTM appliances, The TZ 180 combines the features of a small-office router with standard firewalling and network settings.

However, the TZ 180 is far simpler to use than its competitors. Every major configuration is wizard-driven. Through wizards, solution providers can activate various VPN policies, intranet-server configurations and segment a LAN. Out of the box, TZ 180 arrives with a comprehensive set of quality-of-service VoIP features that cover most SIP and H323 settings.

Engineers found the arrangement of the TZ 180's main security dashboard bloated and too distracting. All of the monitoring features are spread out on various other panes, forcing users to navigate to different panes to check various statuses.

Next: Four Key Players: Unified Threat Management