Routers Vs. Firewall
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The problem, I assume, is that your boss is confusing Firewall and UTM. SonicWalls are crappy UTMs, that's their selling point (literally both that they are crappy, and UTMs), not that they are firewalls.
UTM has become "too complex" for end users and they start calling them firewalls, which is confusing because everything is a firewall, but only a few things are UTMs.
So because your boss has confused firewall and UTM, he now has to be confused as to what a router is, because he conflated something that was essentially synonymous with router with something different and has lost all concept of what he is discussing.
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Yeah, a SonicWall is not a router or a firewall. It is a UTM. A shitty one btw. This is a totally different concept than a router or a firewall.
A UTM contains a firewall, router, IPS, IDS, endpoint antivirus, etc.
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@jaredbusch said in Routers Vs. Firewall:
Yeah, a SonicWall is not a router or a firewall. It is a UTM. A shitty one btw. This is a totally different concept than a router or a firewall.
A UTM contains a firewall, router, IPS, IDS, endpoint antivirus, etc.
So we were both wrong? LOL
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@wrcombs said in Routers Vs. Firewall:
@scottalanmiller said in Routers Vs. Firewall:
@wrcombs said in Routers Vs. Firewall:
@wrx7m said in Routers Vs. Firewall:
@wrcombs said in Routers Vs. Firewall:
@scottalanmiller said in Routers Vs. Firewall:
@wrcombs said in Routers Vs. Firewall:
@scottalanmiller said in Routers Vs. Firewall:
@wrcombs said in Routers Vs. Firewall:
Im under the impression of yes but everyone at the office wants to fight me and tell me otherwise,
So What do you think?That you should only get into these kinds of discussions with IT people. Random people don't understand these IT terms and will say anything based on airport marketing campaigns they saw once while going to Disney World.
LOL I simply made a comment and it turned into a huge thing
End users are like that
i can see that.
Now the whole thing started because i called a sonic wall a router rather than a sonic wall.
Most, if not all, sonciwalls have routing, firewall and a bunch more stuff, like AV, filtering, WAF, etc. It is considered a UTM.
hence why i called it a router rather than a sonic wall.. it does teh same thing as a router pluse some.
Apparently this is something these guys have arguements about with customers who think they know it all.
I thought this WAS the customers arguing. If the customers are calling it a router, they sound like they likely know more.
this is my boss
Your boss needs fired.
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@wrcombs said in Routers Vs. Firewall:
@jaredbusch said in Routers Vs. Firewall:
Yeah, a SonicWall is not a router or a firewall. It is a UTM. A shitty one btw. This is a totally different concept than a router or a firewall.
A UTM contains a firewall, router, IPS, IDS, endpoint antivirus, etc.
So we were both wrong? LOL
More or less. But in your defense, the terms router and firewall are perfectly interchangeable.
The subsequent argument is fucking stupid, and from how it was presented here, reinforces how sorry I feel for you.
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@wrcombs said in Routers Vs. Firewall:
@jaredbusch said in Routers Vs. Firewall:
Yeah, a SonicWall is not a router or a firewall. It is a UTM. A shitty one btw. This is a totally different concept than a router or a firewall.
A UTM contains a firewall, router, IPS, IDS, endpoint antivirus, etc.
So we were both wrong? LOL
Not really. You called it a router, which it is. So correcting you was wrong, because you were right. Being a UTM does not stop it being a router.
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@WrCombs you could have called it a firewall, and been right, too. Or called it a UTM. Had HE called it a firewall and you corrected him, THEN you'd have been wrong.
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What do systems like VyOS and pfSense/OPNsense be considered as? VyOS makes sense to be called a router.
But what about pfSense/OPNsense? -
@black3dynamite said in Routers Vs. Firewall:
What do systems like VyOS and pfSense/OPNsense be considered as? VyOS makes sense to be called a router.
But what about pfSense/OPNsense?VyOS is a router/firewall. Period.
pfSense is a router/firewall that lets you easily add on UTM functions. Once you do that, it is a UTM.
I have never used OPNsense.
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VyOS runs on Debian, so you can obviously turn it into a pseudo UTM, but it is not all in a single GUI like pfSense.
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@jaredbusch said in Routers Vs. Firewall:
@wrcombs said in Routers Vs. Firewall:
@jaredbusch said in Routers Vs. Firewall:
Yeah, a SonicWall is not a router or a firewall. It is a UTM. A shitty one btw. This is a totally different concept than a router or a firewall.
A UTM contains a firewall, router, IPS, IDS, endpoint antivirus, etc.
So we were both wrong? LOL
More or less. But in your defense, the terms router and firewall are perfectly interchangeable.
The subsequent argument is fucking stupid, and from how it was presented here, reinforces how sorry I feel for you.
The argument started because I made a statement, and It wasn't just my direct boss. The service manager also jumped in and was telling me i was wrong (basically)
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On a technical level they're not wrong. A router only routes packets. A firewall restricts packets. On a practical level you cannot buy a pure router, and a pure firewall blackbox is so rare as to be nonexistent. In your specific instance, calling a Sonicwall a router is like calling a computer a hard drive. You're correctly identifying one element of its purpose, but it is too narrow an identification to be accurate.
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@kelly said in Routers Vs. Firewall:
On a technical level they're not wrong. A router only routes packets. A firewall restricts packets.
The routing function only routes the packets. But the router doesn't "only" route packets. Like how the "car function" of a car is only to drive. But all cars have stereos. They aren't any less cars because they have additional features.
So on a technical level, they are wrong because they claimed that it was not a router. It most certainly is a router. It's more than just a router, but that doesn't make it less of a router.
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@kelly said in Routers Vs. Firewall:
In your specific instance, calling a Sonicwall a router is like calling a computer a hard drive.
It's a bit different. A hard drive is a necessary component to make up a computer. You can buy a hard drive that isn't a computer. A computer can have many hard drives. It seems similar, but it's actually quite different as an analogy goes. A hard drive is part of what makes something a computer rather than a function that a computer performs.
It's more like calling a computer a data storage device, because it contains a hard drive. A computer is definitely a data storage device. It is also a data manipulation device. And a communications device. These are aspects of the computer, not parts of it.
Routing isn't a part of the firewall or UTM. The three are distinct aspects of the whole. Just like I'm male, American, and 42. I'm all three things. You can't correct someone calling me 42 as being incorrect because I'm ALSO mail and he didn't mention it. That I'm other things doesn't make me not 42.
Is the SonicWall blue? Yes
Is the SonicWall networking hardware? Yes.
Is the SonicWall a router? Yes.
Is the SonicWall a firewall? Yes.
Is the SonicWall a UTM? Yes.Those things all remain true regardless of additional functionality or aspects being added.
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@scottalanmiller said in Routers Vs. Firewall:
@kelly said in Routers Vs. Firewall:
In your specific instance, calling a Sonicwall a router is like calling a computer a hard drive.
It's a bit different. A hard drive is a necessary component to make up a computer. You can buy a hard drive that isn't a computer. A computer can have many hard drives. It seems similar, but it's actually quite different as an analogy goes. A hard drive is part of what makes something a computer rather than a function that a computer performs.
It's more like calling a computer a data storage device, because it contains a hard drive. A computer is definitely a data storage device. It is also a data manipulation device. And a communications device. These are aspects of the computer, not parts of it.
Routing isn't a part of the firewall or UTM. The three are distinct aspects of the whole. Just like I'm male, American, and 42. I'm all three things. You can't correct someone calling me 42 as being incorrect because I'm ALSO mail and he didn't mention it. That I'm other things doesn't make me not 42.
Is the SonicWall blue? Yes
Is the SonicWall networking hardware? Yes.
Is the SonicWall a router? Yes.
Is the SonicWall a firewall? Yes.
Is the SonicWall a UTM? Yes.Those things all remain true regardless of additional functionality or aspects being added.
Nothing ruins a good simile like over analyzing it.
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@scottalanmiller said in Routers Vs. Firewall:
@kelly said in Routers Vs. Firewall:
On a technical level they're not wrong. A router only routes packets. A firewall restricts packets.
The routing function only routes the packets. But the router doesn't "only" route packets. Like how the "car function" of a car is only to drive. But all cars have stereos. They aren't any less cars because they have additional features.
So on a technical level, they are wrong because they claimed that it was not a router. It most certainly is a router. It's more than just a router, but that doesn't make it less of a router.
I was referring to the distinction they were drawing between a router and a firewall, not the accuracy of their statement with regards to the Sonicwall.
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@kelly said in Routers Vs. Firewall:
@scottalanmiller said in Routers Vs. Firewall:
@kelly said in Routers Vs. Firewall:
On a technical level they're not wrong. A router only routes packets. A firewall restricts packets.
The routing function only routes the packets. But the router doesn't "only" route packets. Like how the "car function" of a car is only to drive. But all cars have stereos. They aren't any less cars because they have additional features.
So on a technical level, they are wrong because they claimed that it was not a router. It most certainly is a router. It's more than just a router, but that doesn't make it less of a router.
I was referring to the distinction they were drawing between a router and a firewall, not the accuracy of their statement with regards to the Sonicwall.
Right, but calling it a router is just fine, unlike calling a computer a hard drive, which is not correct. That was my point. @WrCombs wasn't wrong, it's a router just as much as it is a firewall, just as much as it is a UTM. Calling it any of them is fine because there is no term for all three merged together. In theory, each one can be a separate device or VM, just silly and no one sells that.
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@scottalanmiller said in Routers Vs. Firewall:
@kelly said in Routers Vs. Firewall:
@scottalanmiller said in Routers Vs. Firewall:
@kelly said in Routers Vs. Firewall:
On a technical level they're not wrong. A router only routes packets. A firewall restricts packets.
The routing function only routes the packets. But the router doesn't "only" route packets. Like how the "car function" of a car is only to drive. But all cars have stereos. They aren't any less cars because they have additional features.
So on a technical level, they are wrong because they claimed that it was not a router. It most certainly is a router. It's more than just a router, but that doesn't make it less of a router.
I was referring to the distinction they were drawing between a router and a firewall, not the accuracy of their statement with regards to the Sonicwall.
Right, but calling it a router is just fine, unlike calling a computer a hard drive, which is not correct. That was my point. @WrCombs wasn't wrong, it's a router just as much as it is a firewall, just as much as it is a UTM. Calling it any of them is fine because there is no term for all three merged together. In theory, each one can be a separate device or VM, just silly and no one sells that.
Except users call computers a hard drive all the time. It is totally common.
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@jaredbusch said in Routers Vs. Firewall:
@scottalanmiller said in Routers Vs. Firewall:
@kelly said in Routers Vs. Firewall:
@scottalanmiller said in Routers Vs. Firewall:
@kelly said in Routers Vs. Firewall:
On a technical level they're not wrong. A router only routes packets. A firewall restricts packets.
The routing function only routes the packets. But the router doesn't "only" route packets. Like how the "car function" of a car is only to drive. But all cars have stereos. They aren't any less cars because they have additional features.
So on a technical level, they are wrong because they claimed that it was not a router. It most certainly is a router. It's more than just a router, but that doesn't make it less of a router.
I was referring to the distinction they were drawing between a router and a firewall, not the accuracy of their statement with regards to the Sonicwall.
Right, but calling it a router is just fine, unlike calling a computer a hard drive, which is not correct. That was my point. @WrCombs wasn't wrong, it's a router just as much as it is a firewall, just as much as it is a UTM. Calling it any of them is fine because there is no term for all three merged together. In theory, each one can be a separate device or VM, just silly and no one sells that.
Except users call computers a hard drive all the time. It is totally common.
Yes, but THAT is wrong.
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@jaredbusch said in Routers Vs. Firewall:
But a router is never only a router in today's world. Every single router is a router and a firewall.
Yes, but a device that is both a router and a firewall does not mean that a router is a firewall (and vice versa), it just means that the two products are generally interchangeable and indistinguishable in the real world.
Saying "Every single router is a router and a firewall." is different from saying "Every single router is a firewall"
So I'm kind of with the boss, on a purely abstract, pedantic level. I guess that makes me "sub-intern" :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes: Oh well, I've been called worse on here.
