1) Most appliance-based devices do not allow access to the operating system from the application. In fact, they don't even allow access to the application, except for its configuration.
A few colleagues and I started a discussion as to why one should or shouldn't buy an appliance-based firewall, ids/ips or other security appliance instead of installing software on a server.
We thought about patching, performance, and other reason for each option but I'd like to hear what other people think.
I would really appreciate if you could share your thoughts with me.
2) Most appliance-based devices have a kernel and OS that is specifically built (or the latest buzz word "purpose-built") for the service they provide, making them capable of running on lower speed processors and lower memory footprints than a general purpose OS (or conversely, capable of doing a great deal more with the same CPU speed and memory footprint.)
Those are the two main benefits that I hear most often touted. I haven't done any research into those claims. Perhaps someone else has?
Paul Schmehl ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Adjunct Information Security Officer The University of Texas at Dallas AVIEN Founding Member http://www.utdallas.edu/ir/security/
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