A firewall is a system that is designed to prevent unauthorized access to or from a private network. All communication between your computer and internet flows through the firewall since it lies between your computer network and the Internet.

A firewall can be software or hardware.

Hardware firewalls provide a higher level of security and hence preferred for servers where security has the topmost priority. Hardware firewalls usually come as an inbuilt unit of a router and provide maximum security by filtering the data at packet-level.

The software firewalls are less expensive and hence preferred in home computers and laptops.

Features of Hardware Firewall:-

• Anti Malware
• Antispam
• Web and Application Filter
• Intrusion Prevention System
• Lets you quickly identify and react to network security threats
• Deliver high-performance next-generation firewall
• IPsec & SSL-VPN
• Identity-based policies
• Content filtering
• Load balancing for more than more than two ISP
• User-based authentication
• Anti Phishing attacks
• Antivirus
• Antispyware
• Vulnerability Scans