VIDEO: Palo Alto Networks VM-Series Virtual Firewall Review: Top Features, Pros, And Cons

the vm series virtual firewall is a virtual next generation firewall from security software company palo alto networks if you're looking to give your public and private cloud networks a security boost you should consider the vm series virtual firewall but if you're in a rush we can help use our product selection tool at technologyadvice.com to get a free list of security software recommendations click the link in the description below to get started the vm series virtual firewall from palo alto networks provides the functionality of a physical next generation firewall but in software form this is great for situations where installing a hardware firewall isn't an option like in public and private clouds software-defined networks and in software-defined wide area networks just like a hardware next generation firewall the vm series provides deep packet inspection in addition to application level inspection and intrusion prevention while the vm series isn't made to replace hardware firewalls some organizations opt for the virtual firewall to save money without sacrificing quality the vm series virtual firewall can be deployed on private public and hybrid cloud environments on platforms like microsoft azure amazon web services citrix and vmware the vm series offers a variety of features for protecting your networks and applications here's a look at some top features by implementing segmentation and whitelisting policies you can restrict certain applications from sending traffic across various subnets this can help prevent lateral threat movement effectively reducing your attack surface so you can contain compromised users the vm series lets you go a step beyond application segmentation and whitelisting with user-based policies for application access this lets you control which users can access certain applications and it integrates with user repositories like active directory microsoft exchange and ldap if you run containers and managed kubernetes environments you'll benefit from the container protection feature in the vm series container protection works by providing visibility into container traffic as well as threat prevention capabilities this allows security teams to make better decisions and to catch signs of a potential threat early using panorama a centralized management system from palo alto networks you can conduct network security management from a single user interface panorama lets you manage both vm series firewalls and physical security appliances with additional features for drilling down into logs and building reports note that panorama is a separate product and is not included in the pricing for the vm series the vm series virtual firewall is a top-rated next generation firewall but no system is perfect let's take a look at some of the pros and cons of using this firewall when it comes to security features the vm series is hard to beat whitelisting and user-based policies are effective at stopping lateral movement threats and the ability to manage all your firewalls from panorama lends a high level of visibility to network activity the system also uses machine learning to detect threats where humans can't the vm series is easy to implement and it works across a variety of cloud environments whether you need a solution for public private hybrid sdn or sdn wan the vm series can help you tighten network security there's a lot to like about the vm series but some users have expressed dissatisfaction with the system's reporting capabilities and while the vm series is one of the best firewalls on the market many users will point out that you get what you pay for the functionality is good but some organizations may find the pricing prohibitive still not sure the vm series is right for you use our product selection tool at technologyadvice.com to get a free list of security software recommendations click the button on the left to get started you

This transcript was generated automatically from the video's captions and may contain errors.