10 Reasons to Upgrade to the Latest SonicWall Gen 7 TZ Firewall

People often struggle to say goodbye to their things. We grow attached and comfortable with the stuff we use on a regular basis. For instance, I have an old couch that I seldom use, but am nonetheless unable to part with. This comfort zone can be dangerous, as it makes you hold on to things you may no longer need.

We similarly get used to our old network devices. But unlike keeping an old couch, not updating your security gear on time can compromise your entire network. There’s no time like right now to evaluate your needs and adapt. Eliminate things that aren’t needed so that your network is simplified and update those devices that are critical to the operation.

A good firewall is a cornerstone of a secure network. It'll stop advanced cyberattacks, as well as keep up with the speed, performance and productivity needs demanded by today’s workplace. Here are the top 10 reasons you should consider updating your legacy firewall to one of the latest 7th generation SonicWall TZ Series firewall (TZ270, TZ370, TZ470, TZ570 and TZ670 Series):

1. Multi-gigabit support in desktop form factor with high port density
Organizations require increased throughput to support bandwidth-intensive applications — and as such, need multi-gigabit ports. Additionally, having a greater number of ports allows organizations to connect more devices directly to the firewall.

Why Upgrade: Gen 7 TZ series next-generation firewalls are the first desktop form factor to bring multi-gigabit (2.5/5/10G) interfaces or fiber (SFP+, SFP) interfaces, while the legacy or Gen 6 firewalls support only gigabit interfaces. Gen 7 TZs also support a minimum of 8 ports, while Gen 6 supports only 5.

2. Superior hardware upgrades with expandable storage and redundant power supply
Gen 7 TZs come with an expandable storage that enables various features, including logging, reporting, caching, firmware backup and more. A secondary power supply is available for redundancy in case of failure, ensuring business continuity.

Why Upgrade: Gen 7 TZ series models come with an expandable storage slot on the bottom of the device that provides the ability to expand up to 256GB, while Gen 6 does not. TZ670 comes preloaded with 32GB expandable storage, and TZ570/670 series firewalls support two AC power supplies for redundancy. The optional redundant power supply is available for purchase with TZ570/670 Series, while all other Gen 6 and Gen 7 firewalls support one power supply.

3. Groundbreaking firewall inspection, DPI performance and IPSec VPN performance
Network bandwidth requirements from apps, HD video streaming, social media and more continue to increase. And keeping up requires faster firewall inspection, DPI and IPSec VPN performance, which provide a secure network without performance degradation. Having faster firewall performance provides organizations with a greater capacity to utilize higher internet speeds and support more concurrent and remote users.

Why Upgrade: Gen 7 TZs offer up to 3 times firewall, DPI and IPSec VPN performance over Gen 6 firewalls.

4. Scale higher with increased connection count (per second, SPI, DPI, DPI-SSL)
Having a higher number of concurrent connections provides greater scalability by enabling more simultaneous user sessions to be active and tracked by the firewall.

Why Upgrade: Gen 7 TZs offer up to 15 times as many maximum connections as Gen 6 firewalls.

5. Deploy at scale
With easy onboarding and single-pane of glass management, organizations can reduce complexity, scale quickly, and get business running without additional IT personnel.

Why Upgrade: Gen 7 is simplified by Zero-Touch Deployment, with the ability to simultaneously roll out these devices across multiple locations with minimal IT support.

6. Increased VPN connectivity
For organizations with remote and branch locations, such as retail POS businesses, the ability to create a larger number of site-to-site VPN tunnels is essential. It enables organizations to connect distributed networks together and securely share data.

Why Upgrade: Gen 7 offers up to eight times more site-to-site VPN tunnels than Gen 6 firewalls.

7. High VLAN interfaces
VLANs support the logical grouping of network devices, reduce broadcast traffic and allow more control when implementing security policies. This provides logical separation of devices on the same network. High VLAN interfaces allow better segmentation and performance for organizations.

Why Upgrade: Gen 7 TZ series offers up to five times more VLAN interfaces than Gen 6 TZ series.

8. 802.11ac Wave 2 technology with higher max number of access points
11ac Wave 2 technology enhances Wi-Fi user experience by supporting MU-MIMO technology. An integrated Wi-Fi option enables organizations to extend their wireless network farther without purchasing additional hardware. Alternatively, high number of APs supported by the firewall provide better scalability of the Wi-Fi network.

Why Upgrade: Gen 7 TZs (with the exception of TZ670) offer integrated 802.11ac Wave 2 support, while Gen 6 supports only 802.11ac Wave 1 or 802.11n technologies. Gen 7 TZs support up to four times as many access points as Gen 6 series.

9. Brand-new SonicOS 7.0 support
The feature-rich SonicOS 7.0 operating system features modern UI/UX, topology view, enhanced policy, advanced security and networking and management capabilities, along with TLS 1.3 and default support for BGP routing without the need for additional license.

Why Upgrade:SonicOS 7.0 support is available on Gen 7 Series, but not available on Gen 6 Series. Gen 7 includes BGP support as default with every firewall purchase, as well as Stateful HA support.

10. 5G USB Modem Support
The USB 3.0 port in the Gen 7 TZs could be used to plug in a 5G dongle for 5G connectivity. They’re backward compatible with 4G/LTE/3G technologies with the use of corresponding dongles.

Source: https://blog.sonicwall.com/en-us/2022/10/10-reason...