Which has better Network Security? HARDWARE V/S SOFTWARE Firewalls

A firewall is a network security device (usually a router /a computer ) installed between the internal network of an organisation /individuals and the rest of the internet that :

• monitors incoming and outgoing network traffic and decides whether to allow or block specific traffic .This means that the only traffic allowed onto the network is defined in the firewall policy, all other traffic is denied.

• When your PC connects to a network, the firewall applies a security level in accordance with the type of network. If you want to change the security level assigned initially, you can do this at any time through the firewall settings.

There are different kinds of firewalls but lets just discuss only the two - HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE Firewalls.

Hardware firewall

Hardware firewalls are integrated into the router that sits between a computer and the Internet. They typically use packet filtering, which means they scan packet headers to determine their source, origin, destination addresses and check with the existing user defined rules to make an allow/deny decision.

Major advantages of hardware firewall are :

1. Speed: Hardware firewalls have faster response times, so it can handle more traffic loads.
2. Security: A firewall with its own operating system is less prone for attacks. This in turn reduces the security risk and in addition, hardware firewalls have enhanced security controls because no computer internet protocol addresses are directly exposed to the internet.
3. No Interference: Since the hardware firewall is an isolated network component, it can be managed better, and does not load or slowdown other applications. The firewall can be moved, shutdown, or reconfigured with minimal interference to the network.
4. Inspects all major protocols like SMTP, POP3, IMAP, FTP, HTTP.

Software firewall

Software firewalls are installed on individual servers. They intercept each connection request and then determine whether the request is valid or not.

Major advantages of software firewall are :

1. Ease of use : While comparing with the hardware firewalls, software firewalls are easier to configure and setup.
2. Flexible : Through the software firewall, we can restrict some specific application from the Internet. This makes the software firewall more flexible.
3. Full control : The software firewall give users complete control on their Internet traffic through a nice user friendly interface that requires little or no knowledge.

Now the question is which one is better?

Both technologies have their own advantages and disadvantages. If you have both, then no worries at all. However, for the sake of comparison take a look below :

Setup ease: Software
Software firewall can be installed within a few minutes without downtime & hardware firewall needs around 4 hour downtime.

Networking: Hardware
Hardware firewall provides a common interface to manage the whole network of servers.

Maintenance: Hardware
Frequent maintenance is not required for hardware.

User Friendliness: Software
Can be integrated with server control panels.

Cost: Software
Hardware firewall can cost more than software firewalls.

Resource consumption:Hardware

Hardware firewall does not consume computer resources, which a software firewall does.