What Is a Hardware Firewall?

A hardware firewall is a physical device dedicated to protecting your network. It filters traffic between trusted and untrusted networks. It inspects packets as they pass through network it has a defined set of rules it allows or blocks traffic based on these rules.

How Does It Work?

A hardware firewall has its own operating system, memory, processors and more. packets move through its physical ports. Every single byte of data, whether coming in or going out, must pass through this checkpoint and be inspected before it’s allowed to pass. You can set security rules of what can come in and out. An IP address may be allowed and another not, it is the same for ports.

Advantages Of Physical Firewalls

With a hardware firewall it will protect all devices connected to a server or router, a software firewall has to be individually updated on all computers.

Because it has its own dedicated processing power, a hardware firewall can inspect massive amounts of data without slowing down your internet connection.

Modern hardware firewalls do much more than just block ports. They can:

• Perform Deep Packet Inspection (DPI): Analyze the actual content of data packets, not just their origin.
• Block Malware & Intrusions: Identify and stop known threats, viruses, and spyware at the gateway.
• Enforce Safe Browsing: Block access to known malicious or inappropriate websites.
• Virtual Private Network: Using a firewall with a VPN connection allows you to grant secure access to the people who need it anywhere there’s a stable Internet connection. 

A hardware firewall will be used more in a enterprise network for big bussiness, but that does not mean you can and should not use one if you are serious about network protection. They are more expensive so this is worth keeping in mind, but can be a worth while investment.