Startup Launches New Firewall LineStartup Launches New Firewall Line

Palo Alto Networks debuts a next-generation firewall for the midmarket. A startup we've been closely tracking because of its innovative firewall technology, Palo Alto today announced a midrange appliance to complement its enterprise product line.The PA-2000 series includes a $12,000 model that supports 500 Mbits/sec and a $16,000 model that supports 1 Gbit/sec.

Palo Alto's key innovation is the ability to accurately identify applications using signatures. This lets administrators enforce fine-grained policies about the kinds of traffic they want on their networks. By contrast, traditional stateful inspection firewalls apply policy based on port and protocol. Most enterprises leave ports 80 and 443 open to allow Web traffic, so other apps routinely use the same entryway.

You can read our lab test of the Palo Alto 4000 line here. Check out a live interview with the company at Interop 2008 here.