Barracuda CloudGen Firewall Reviews

We use barracuda firewall as edge router connecting to our ISP modem. we turn on firewall with IP, port, applications, web filtering. We also use its VPN site-to-site and client to site. 

What I like best about this product are the support and the features.

The interface should be more user-friendly and it should be easier to configure. Its configuration are divided per module/service. You will have Firewall service, VPN module and others service. Each services are under 1 server tree. You have to configure at different tabs to make it functions which I found easy to get confused. There are no wizard for guided configuration. You have to depend on their manual at barrcuda campus. Fortunately the manual is quite comprehensive.

The inclusion of a load-balancing capability in the future would be helpful.

I have been using Barracuda CloudGen Firewall for about a year.

This is a stable firewall solution.

This product is easy to scale.

The support is okay but the response time is quite long.

cisco, out of support and pricing

The initial setup is difficult and the deployment took a few days.

My advice for anybody who is considering this solution is to do a proof of concept first, to make sure that it meets the requirements.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

We use it for security.

We enjoy the reduction in terms of labor.

• The brand
• Agility
• Price per performance

The usability for the administrator's experience needs improvement. My system administrator has some questions about its overall connectivity and flexibility.

I would like to see UI improvements in the next release.

It is very stable, but I don't think we stress it to its capabilities.

The scalability meets our needs. It should scale to our short term growth needs without a problem, as our environment is fairly small. We are a small to midsize business.

The technical support is good.

The AWS integration and configuration was easy to use and set up.

Purchasing through AWS Marketplace was good. We did it because it was easy.

It would be nice if the pricing and licensing offered for less.

I would recommend to check out this product.

We have used other versions besides AWS, and we are still comparing them.

We implement it for customers. We have some customers in Mexico who need that kind of technology. We sell that technology to them. Some of our customers have experience working with previous versions of Barracuda; they ask us to implement that kind of device. We have certification with Barracuda, we have certification with some other brands.

Barracuda has a very simple interface, very good security, all the features of the best firewalls in the market, but with a very friendly interface.

Something that we've seen that Barracuda, and some other brands also, have. When you program the firewall to detect certain kinds of attacks, Barracuda can detect that kind of attack and automatically insulate, or remove, or encapsulate the very specific IP, if it's internal. And if it's external it just blocks any kind of communication with that specific IP. If you want, Barracuda will warn the security team. If you allow, or release, that IP, it will continue communication. If not, it will block it forever, or until you release it.

Internally, we'll remove it until you release also, but we allow the IT team to review what is happening with that particular piece of equipment, a computer, a laptop, a server, any kind of device into which a "back door" can be opened or through which they're trying to get some information. Barracuda can help with that. That is one of the most important features we've seen with Barracuda.

I cannot mention the name, due to the NDA that we have signed with a financial company, a financial entity. But we implemented Barracuda with them. Right now they are monitoring all the information that their employees are managing. If an employee tries to get or move a file that is not permitted to them - for example if he wants to copy it to a USB - he will not have the right to do that, because Barracuda manages who has the right to copy, and what you copy to a USB. The USB is encrypted with a specific code from Barracuda and will only be decrypted into any other laptop in the company if they allow it to see it.

Even in the network, a feature of Windows is to see how you are sharing files. Barracuda can help you to monitor how you are moving files.

When you are sending information to an external email address, Barracuda can warn you when you are trying to access a private or personal email, or trying to upload information; it's not allowing you to do that. That was the biggest feature that that financial entity admired in Barracuda, among others.

Easy integration with some other systems like LDAP or Active Directory to manage other permissions and the division of external access and internal access.

The problem we found was with the issue of configuration. Our engineers are working with some other brands, they have knowledge of other brands. With Barracuda it's a matter of translating the comments. So maybe one company calls something a "black box" and with Barracuda they call "black" "dark." So it's a matter of getting to know it.

We had only one issue. But after we did the analysis and we escalated the issue with the Barracuda service desk, the issue was shown to be coming from a failure in a RAM memory card in the Barracuda. That issue was detected by technical support. They sent a replacement, it solved the issue, and we continued working.

No issues with scalability.

When we buy the device for the customer, we buy the Enhanced Support, the extended support contract, 24/7 support. When we write in with issues we get very quick answers from technical support. The communication with their engineers is very fluid.

We had a couple of sessions at one point; the engineer working with us never put down the phone. When her work hours were supposed to end, we changed to another engineer, but not immediately. The first one didn't say goodbye immediately. She stayed behind for 30 minutes to explain and transfer the case to the other engineer and we completed the test with the other engineer. He detected the failure and created the RMA to change the problematic piece and that was it.

We are not entirely switching to Barracuda. We want to, but we are not because before we started selling Barracuda we had invested in other brands and, obviously, in the accounting and in reality, we need to complete using them. But yes, we are thinking of moving to Barracuda after we have had it for three years. We want to show our customers that we are using the technology we are selling.

The firewall we are using in our company is Palo Alto, it's a very good firewall, a very robust firewall as well. But when we are doing the comparison with Barracuda we can see it's not the same. The biggest difference between the brands is pricing.

This is something that I have never specifically asked my technical team. The simple answer is that they have told me there is no problem. It's very easy. We only need to know the names of the commented bits, because there are some comments where the names are changing.

We compared Barracuda with Cisco. We compared Barracuda, at that time, with Fortinet. When we did the comparison we felt Cisco was another great product. But the difference in this case, what made Barracuda the winner, was the price, at that time.

We are an information technology service provider in telecommunications. We can supply any kind of device, for a datacenter, and contact centers, for our customers. We are using technology from Dell, HPE, Palo Alto, Barracuda, and some other brands to implement technology solutions for customers.

Our principal service is a managed service, information security services, or cyber security. We sell those services to different customers in Mexico. We are serving Central America and some other countries in Latin America.

I give Barracuda an eight out of 10 because they can still give more to the end-user. They still have things they can improve. They have very good features but I think they can improve some of those features and make it into a super service. Today, they are a good solution. It could be a super solution.

Regarding Barracuda, Google has been using that technology for a very long time. If a company like Google is using that technology...

Take the opportunity to get to know the device. You need to request a proof of concept, in the case that you are comparing it with another brand. That is the best way to show what Barracuda can do, completely. It's not the same as a simple server, or any other device.

If you only want to secure internet access, Barracuda will comply completely with all the features you require. But if you have public servers, and you are looking for more security options, etc., and don't want to spend a lot, Barracuda is what you are looking for. If you are a company that has no specific standard to follow, Barracuda is what you are looking for. It has very good hardware, it has very good software - or operating system - and they have very good features and good pricing. If you compare it with other brands, Barracuda is a very good solution.

The solution has a couple of use cases in VPN. We have branches connecting to the head office. We have users connecting to VPNs. We also use SSL VPN.

The encryption and the security standards are valuable.

We need high availability and load balancing. The product does not enable load balancing. We are looking for alternate solutions. We have multiple VPN channels with clients and sites. We need to ensure that the traffic is optimized so that the full bandwidth of the existing network is utilized. If the link goes down, the traffic must be routed without any downtime in the connection.

I have been using the solution for the past six years.

I rate the tool’s stability a nine out of ten. We haven't faced any issues with the stability.

I rate the tool’s scalability an eight out of ten. The features are a bit limited compared to other vendors. Scaling with limited options doesn’t make sense. Around 80 people are using the solution.

We have contacted support for configuration or troubleshooting. We involve support in areas where the product lacks features. The support is quite good. I rate the support a nine and a half out of ten.

Positive

I have seen a return on investment from the solution. We will be using the device refresh feature next year. The devices will be upgraded free of charge.

The product is a bit cheaper than some solutions. It depends on the type of load.

We are partners of the product. The solution must include as many features as possible. Each environment has different use cases. The features provided by the tool must be flexible enough to address our use cases and requirements. Overall, I rate the tool an eight out of ten.

One of the big benefits of the product is that it allows you to manage big environments with fewer resources. The product offers very good management.

Barracuda CloudGen Firewall should work a little bit more with the logs so that, in our company, we can generate a little bit more reports and get a bit more statistics, which would be fine for us. The firewall's functionalities are okay, including network and security. The tool should improve its reporting and security areas, which are the only areas of concern related to the product.

I have been using Barracuda CloudGen Firewall for twenty-two years. I use the solution's different model versions, including Barracuda CloudGen Firewall F12.

It is a stable solution.

It is a scalable solution.

The product is easy to deploy, configure, and update.

I would prefer users to opt for Palo Alto in enterprise-sized environments, like energy companies, health companies, or financial organizations. Compared to Barracuda CloudGen Firewalls, Palo Alto offers its users a little bit more security. Palo Alto's threat prevention, sandboxing functionalities, and web filtering features are good. I don't know the other vendors so well that I could talk about them.

Though there are some issues with Barracuda CloudGen Firewall, those working with it in our company are mostly satisfied with it.

I rate the overall tool an eight out of ten.

We use the solution to secure network infrastructure.

The solution provides essential security features to protect our customers' applications.

The solution has the best security features.

The solution's interface is complex at the moment. It could be more user-friendly.

We have been using the solution for four years.

The solution is very stable. I haven't seen any downtime in the past two to three years.

I used Cisco Secure Firewall earlier.

The solution's initial setup process is easy. It requires a team of five to execute the deployment.

We implement the solution with the help of Barracuda partners.

The solution's price is affordable.

We are evaluating Fortinet, Palo Alto, and Cisco products. In comparison, Barracuda offers a reasonable price.

I rate the solution a ten out of ten.

Barracuda is our main firewall solution in our headquarters.

The interface is very user-friendly and it is quite easy to use.

Technical support could be more reliable and more professional.

I would like to see better support for switching between internet devices.

I have been using Barracuda CloudGen Firewall for more than three years.

The stability is okay and we haven't had any issues.

Technical support used to be at a very high level but it is now a bit less so. Regardless, the support is still quite efficient compared to other companies. It depends on who picks up the phone and who takes the task. There are times where the quality is poor and others where all of our questions are answered in a few minutes and it feels good.

This past November, we extended our support for an additional three years.

The price of this solution is comparable with similar products of similar quality.

My advice for anybody who is implementing this solution is to first discuss the environment and task with the Barracuda engineers.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

In the time we were using it:

• Intrusion Prevention System/Intrusion Detection System (IPS/IDS)
• Layer 7 filtering
• DDoS prevention
• HA
• Traffic management, among others.

During the testing time, the improvement was prominent as we stop unwanted outgoing traffic and were able to get real-time logs. This provided us with better bandwidth administration and usage.

If I compare it to other firewalls like Kerio Control, I would say that, probably, the GUI/Configuration Menu is something that could be more user friendly.

We used it for almost two months while we were researching firewall solutions and this was one option.

Not much, the problem was on our side because it was the first time with this kind of firewall (and brand), but the installation of the virtual appliance was really easy.

None, from the first day to the last, the firewall ran with no issues at all.

None at all as long as you have the money to pay for the licenses to scale the system.

Nil, here in Argentina, the distributor was limited to providing the price of the product. We had to resolve issues by doing our own research.

We didn´t use the technical support, however we watched, many times, the webinars that Barracuda gave.

At that time we were using pfSense, which is not bad at all, but we needed something more enterprise-class like, and Barracuda Networks gave that to us. The monitoring tools are great.

Compared with other Firewalls, yes, it was complex but that´s for two reasons,

1. The firewall has plenty of options to configure
2. Because we were not trained or used to this kind of firewall, the initial set-up was long

We installed this application on our own, and we didn't receive any advice on it. I can say that the Latin America team at Barracuda took some time to reply to our questions through email.

We were evaluating a lot of appliances/firewalls/UTM like,

• Sonicwall
• Checkpoint
• Bluecoat
• Kerio Control
• Cisco ASA
• Sophos Gateway (formerly Astaro Gateway)

There were also many others that I don´t remember now as well. We were looking for simplicity and effectiveness.

Try it before you buy. Barracuda gives the chance to try the hardware and the software before buying it so you can test all the things that you will need and use day-to-day. And if you can, take a seminar to get the most out of the devices. However we found the product a little harder to configure than others, and so it´s not a product for unskilled/inexperienced administrators. You will need training to get the best of this product.