18th July, 2017

If you are planning to move your company’s data to the cloud, it is important that you take the necessary steps to safeguard it against viruses and malicious attacks. No matter you own a small start-up business or a well-established organization, hackers are always on the lookout for unprotected confidential information that can be exploited for malicious purposes.

It is recommended to use a firewall solution to stay protected against any online attack or malware infection. The firewall will record the incoming requests, inspect data packets and block any unauthorized or unusual traffic to the network. There are different firewall options available depending upon the level of control required and where you want to deploy it. The two main types of firewall are – host based and network based.

Given below is a complete comparison of both the options so that you can choose the right one for your cloud data.

Host Based Firewall

A host based firewall is installed on every virtual machine that is connected to the cloud. It helps to monitor all the incoming and outgoing traffic to determine if it is safe to be directed to the device. Host based firewall offers the following advantages:

  • More Flexibility: Virtual machines and applications can be easily moved between the cloud environments without the need to change the firewall’s security policy.
  • Better Features: Host based firewall also supports anti-virus and data loss prevention to provide complete protection to the virtual machine.
    Customization: The firewall settings of each device can be individually configured according to the level of security required.

Network Based Firewall

Network based firewall refers to a solution that is embedded into the cloud infrastructure. It is a good option to be deployed in a larger network. It offers a slightly stronger defense as compared to host based firewalls. Some of the advantages of using network based firewall are:

  • Greater Security: This type of firewall solution is quite difficult to circumvent. In a host based firewall, the hacker can directly access the virtual machine and easily gain administrative privileges. However, in a network based firewall, unauthorized access is likely to be detected right at the network level.
  • Scalability: These firewalls can easily be scaled up if the client requires additional bandwidth.
    Affordability: Network based firewalls prove to be cost-effective in the long run as they do not require a dedicated IT team to monitor regular maintenance and updates on every server.

For more tips on choosing the right firewall solution for cloud data, you can contact Centex Technologies at (855) 375 – 9654.