Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is used to protect data in two data centers, including headquarters and data center H5O.
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall for AWS - PAYG
Barracuda NetworksExternal reviews
External reviews are not included in the AWS star rating for the product.
Security has protected our data centers but support gaps and limited expertise remain challenging
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
I am using calls functionality from DLP forwarding calls and SSL inspection in Barracuda CloudGen Firewall, and all of those are necessary to be used. I cannot qualify which is more important than others, but it is a complete product, and I am using all features.
What needs improvement?
I don't know about the centralized management console for managing policies in Barracuda CloudGen Firewall. We are not using it, and I don't know what that is. My vendor didn't provide me information about such a feature.
There are a lot of functionalities already present, but the problem is whether there is knowledge about the functionalities or stability.
Barracuda can make improvements for the next generation firewall product. In general, it is a very rare product in our market. More training and more learning for customers on how to use these products are needed. We are suffering from a lack of engineers in our market, so I am considering changing the product to a more popular one because it is not easy to recommend Barracuda, even this great product, but nobody uses it in Poland, and it is not easy to do anything. I know just one company which is supporting us.
Concerning the effectiveness of the filtering capabilities in Barracuda CloudGen Firewall, it happens sometimes that the classifications are misleading with wrong categorizations of what they use into the games or something into categories when it is definitely not in the category. I don't know from what reasons, but maybe it could be adjusted.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with Barracuda CloudGen Firewall since 2016 in one location, and in the second one, it has been three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
For stability, I would rate the next generation firewall stability of the product an eight.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Regarding scalability and the ability to scale and expand with Barracuda CloudGen Firewall, there is no issue, so I would rate it a ten.
How are customer service and support?
I would rate the technical support for Barracuda CloudGen Firewall a six, as in the past, it was definitely better, but recently it has not been as good.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I compared Barracuda CloudGen Firewall mainly with FortiGate.
How was the initial setup?
For the initial setup of Barracuda CloudGen Firewall, it was a bit more complex than simple; I would rate it at six on a scale from one to ten.
What about the implementation team?
I used a third-party company for the integration and setup of Barracuda CloudGen Firewall. I have some knowledge about the product and in-house capability, but I am relying on the third-party company for the purposes of integrations and new products.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
The key reason I chose Barracuda over FortiGate is that I have been using Barracuda since 2016 or even 2015, and I am just used to it. It is stable, it is working, and there are no issues. However, to develop and use new features, I am lacking specialists, which is why it is not easy to expand with Barracuda CloudGen Firewall.
What other advice do I have?
I do not use the SD WAN capabilities of Barracuda CloudGen Firewall.
Threat protection feature in Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is working. I have not had much experience with other products, so I didn't support any issues with that module. It is working just fine.
I was a long-time strong fan of this product, but unfortunately, I will change the vendor for another one. Therefore, I cannot recommend it. If someone can set up things in-house with specialists, then it is quite a good product. There are not so many critical incidents, but probably mostly because it is not so popular. The pain point for me is support. In general, with a small scale, I was able to manage it myself, but with a wider scale, it is not possible to rely on in-house specialists, and there is no specialist available on the market. I would give this review an overall rating of seven.
Optimizes bandwidth with SD-WAN and threat protection but needs faster support and automation
How has it helped my organization?
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall SD-WAN capabilities have helped optimize our customers' bandwidth usage significantly because we are moving from MPLS to SD-WAN.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features in Barracuda CloudGen Firewall are the functionality of DPI and IDS, ATP, and we also use it in an SD-WAN operation as well, so it works well in the SD-WAN feature.
In terms of our routing and VPN capabilities, Barracuda CloudGen Firewall performs well.
The threat protection features of Barracuda CloudGen Firewall are good, and I appreciate their reporting capabilities. It is a very good tool to have, especially when you are using IDS and IPS to block SQL injection, buffer overflow attacks, and similar threats in real-time.
We use the cloud centralized management console for managing security policies.
What needs improvement?
There is room for improvement in terms of response time and first-level support quality.
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall needs to learn from FortiManager and Palo Alto, as I see that they have automation and their reporting is easier to generate compared to Barracuda CloudGen Firewall.
I would like to see built-in endpoint integration in the next release of Barracuda CloudGen Firewall, including EDR. They need to improve or at least have an AI-assisted traffic analyzer alert. Their support can be improved as well.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We have not had any issues while integrating Barracuda CloudGen Firewall with third-party solutions because the professional support was really helpful with the integration.
How are customer service and support?
I rate the technical support by Barracuda a four out of ten.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup for Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is quite easy.
What about the implementation team?
The integration of Barracuda CloudGen Firewall with other products is good because we required assistance and professional help from the Barracuda team to come and help us, which was beneficial.
We have not had any issues while integrating Barracuda CloudGen Firewall with third-party solutions because the professional support was really helpful with the process.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
The pricing for Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is a bit pricey compared to Palo Alto or Fortinet.
Centralized firewall management has saved time and improved network security across locations
What is our primary use case?
My main use case for Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is to secure our company's main and backup internet connections, and we also use it for failover of our main internet to our backup. We recently replaced a WatchGuard Firebox with this firewall because the cost of maintenance was high on the WatchGuard, and the management of Barracuda CloudGen Firewall was much simpler and could be done without a locally installed client.
You can manage Barracuda CloudGen Firewall from anywhere with Barracuda Cloud Control, even running firmware updates from your phone on all your Barracuda devices. It makes my job so much easier.
A specific situation where Barracuda CloudGen Firewall helped me manage my internet connections and made my job easier is when we switched to Barracuda CloudGen Firewall model F400. Coming from an older command line managed firewall, the F400 has made management of our firewalls much easier, and it is our primary firewall solution.
We use Barracuda CloudGen Firewall to watch real-time traffic, which is easy to do when trying to troubleshoot user issues getting to a particular service. Ease of management is a significant advantage. You can remotely manage it from anywhere with cloud control.
What is most valuable?
The best features Barracuda CloudGen Firewall offers include extreme customization for any environment and support for all configuration with firewall rules. Security features such as hardware-level antivirus and advanced threat protection, as well as SSL inspection, ensure all traffic passes through the appliance.
Control Center is far superior to other products for globally managing numerous firewalls and creating and deploying templates on the fly.
These features have improved security and prevented any cybersecurity threats before they attack our system, making things easier for my team day-to-day.
The VPN connections have never been easier. Once configured within Control Center, drag and drop is all that is needed to connect to internet-connected firewalls easily.
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall has positively impacted my organization by allowing us to control the entire network from one location, hence saving a lot of time from moving from one location to another. All services and processes work very well and are reliable, with high uptime.
For MSPs looking to deploy and control numerous firewalls with ease, this is the best product available.
Since switching to Barracuda CloudGen Firewall, we have saved time of 30 to 40 percent because we are able to control the network from one location. We have also saved costs of 20 percent because we do not have to move from one location to another to control the network.
What needs improvement?
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall could be improved as it has a very high learning curve. It is definitely not a one and done firewall, as a one and done firewall requires a lot of dedicated time to get the machine running the way you want.
To improve Barracuda CloudGen Firewall, there should be a lot of tutorials and videos online to help new users. Multiple ways to configure for the same service or feature takes time to determine your customized build.
In addition to previous points, the interface can sometimes be clunky when trying to determine how it is organized or arranged.
For how long have I used the solution?
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
How are customer service and support?
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
How was the initial setup?
What was our ROI?
I have seen a return on investment with Barracuda CloudGen Firewall, as it makes our environment more secure through the robust security features it offers. It has drastically reduced the amount of infections from cybersecurity threats and makes managing close to 50 clients or more for our engineers much easier, hence saving a lot of time and cost.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
What other advice do I have?
I deduct those two points because it has a very complex and steep learning curve to get started, but it is very highly customizable and can control the entire network from one location. That is what makes it receive a rating of eight, hence saving time and cost.
The security features such as hardware-level antivirus and advanced threat protection, as well as SSL inspection, ensure all traffic passes through the appliance to increase security and prevent cybersecurity threats on time.
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is deployed in my organization using a hybrid cloud setup.
We purchased Barracuda CloudGen Firewall through the AWS Marketplace.
We do utilize the advanced threat features to provide the first layer for virus through malware detection and prevention before the traffic ever gets to the antivirus software that is used on each workstation.
My advice for others looking into using Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is that anyone that has a business or stores client's data must have a next-generation firewall with zero exemptions. If you have multiple sites, configuring a VPN between them takes less than a minute to configure. These devices have many more features than their competitors but often cost less. Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is very cost-effective, and I highly recommend it. I rate Barracuda CloudGen Firewall an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Reliable security has boosted application performance and supports remote connectivity
What is our primary use case?
My main use case for Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is as a combined solution for application performance boost and secure SD-WAN, which I typically rely on to boost application performance by ensuring reliable connectivity to remote sites and users.
There are rush hours where traffic from cloud apps and off-network users increases and crowds the network. With Barracuda CloudGen Firewall, we are able to boost performance of crucial apps and high-priority projects in a very secure manner. This way, my top-priority ports do not experience downtimes.
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall helps me boost application performance specifically by being capable of directly sending internet traffic with appropriate security inspection within no backhauls, whether it is SaaS or internet-bound traffic.
In my department, we have achieved consistent network link pooling and data caching optimization for both handling critical workloads, thereby saving a lot of work. There is always enough bandwidth for applications with Barracuda CloudGen Firewall optimization. We are, however, not completely satisfied with their link redundancy handling capabilities.
I use Barracuda CloudGen Firewall as a router and firewall in all of our organization globally, which is to terminate all management VPN tunnels to our organization and within the same country to avoid problems with long-distance internet connections.
What is most valuable?
The best features Barracuda CloudGen Firewall offers, in my experience, include its ability to scale dynamically, dispatch traffic to match workloads, utilize next-gen firewalls to assure data security, and provide great routing, firewall, and network management.
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall's next-gen firewall capabilities increase the level of network protection against threats, visibility, and control of applications that users access. I also appreciate the URL filtering to block unauthorized or prohibited websites on the internal corporate network, protection against diverse malware at the edge of the network, and firewall redundancy with another backup appliance.
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall has positively impacted my organization by increasing the level of network protection against threats from twenty percent to forty-five percent. It has enhanced visibility and control of applications that users access. It prevents cyberattacks and optimizes network and user management, making security more reliable over the past years.
I measured the improvement from twenty percent to forty-five percent based on fewer incidents of data breaches and also robust hardware that supports more than eighty thousand simultaneous connections, thereby being very stable.
What needs improvement?
To improve Barracuda CloudGen Firewall, it would be great to manage all firewalls in one pane of glass without charging more for this, get better push notifications, and also have better online documentation to make the learning curve much easier and smooth.
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall still cannot combat link redundancy speedily. One time a network link failed, and it took a while before restoring traffic from the backup link, so this should be highly improved.
I chose an eight out of ten because Barracuda CloudGen Firewall cannot combat link redundancy speedily, while a ten rating is warranted as it has mainly boosted our application performance by ensuring reliable connectivity to remote sites and users.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Barracuda CloudGen Firewall for almost five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
In my experience, Barracuda CloudGen Firewall has been reliable and very high performing. I have not noticed any lagging or downtime.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall's scalability is great, as it can handle growth easily.
How are customer service and support?
I have reached out to the customer support team a few times, and they have been very responsive and proactive.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Negative
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I previously used a different solution called Smoothwall SWG.
I decided to switch from Smoothwall SWG to Barracuda CloudGen Firewall because Smoothwall SWG was more costly compared to Barracuda CloudGen Firewall, and it had many complicated features.
How was the initial setup?
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is very easy to set up and manage VPN connections, and it has great customization options.
It is very easy to manage Barracuda CloudGen Firewall. The dashboard allows us to configure all our need-to-see options, and the user interface is easily navigated and customized.
What was our ROI?
Since we started using Barracuda CloudGen Firewall, security has greatly improved, which is a notable return on investment.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
My experience with pricing is that while the licensing cost can be reduced and is somewhat costly, the price is good and affordable.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Before choosing Barracuda CloudGen Firewall, I evaluated other options, including Panda Adaptive Defense 360.
What other advice do I have?
My advice to others looking into using Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is that it is perfect for any size of organization to help remote workers connect seamlessly with the VPN product, boosting security and preventing data breaches, so the network is made stable. I gave this product a rating of eight out of ten.
Dependable Network Protection with Great Support
Simplified Control Centre Management with Powerful SDWAN TINA Tunnel
2. Separate management and data plane.
3. SDWAN feature with TINA Tunnel
2. Complex Configuration for new users.
2. Simplified management for Enterprise grade network infra.
Advanced Security + SD-WAN with Centralized Management and Strong VPN
2. Cetralized Management(Seperate data and management plane)
3. VPN, SDWAN along with its own TINA VPN tunnel has added advantages.
2. Bugs on SDWAN features with friquent software update for bug fixing seems inconsistent.
3. Initial configuration seems quite complicated.
2. Clear visibiltiy of the traffic on each firewall.
3. Centralized management using controller helps efficient management.
Remote work security has improved and web filtering now protects users from risky sites
What is our primary use case?
My main use case for Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is that we purchased it to replace our current Cisco firewall tool. We have always suffered issues trying to manage the Cisco firewall, which is the reason why we switched from it. Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is user-friendly, much more intuitive, and more cost-effective. We started using CudaLaunch to begin with as a necessity from the ongoing pandemic, and it has saved us time. Being that we are new to Barracuda CloudGen Firewall, we have not yet moved all of our firewall settings over to it and implemented the firewall portion fully, but we intend to do that very soon.
A quick specific example of how I'm using Barracuda CloudGen Firewall right now is that since we have only implemented Barracuda CloudGen Firewall a few months ago, we only started using the CudaLaunch VPN portion of the firewall. We had used several other VPN utilities, and they had all had issues over time, mostly with disconnecting the user. With this tool, we have not had any issue with Barracuda CloudGen Firewall CudaLaunch VPN at all in the months we have been using it. With the pandemic, we have been using it heavily over the past few months.
When we began using Barracuda CloudGen Firewall for the traditional edge firewall use case, it does very well in this role. The virtual services hosting modality, even with an on-premises appliance, provides really great flexibility to meet our specific needs. It also allows us to easily update the firewalls to adjust to changing needs within our organization.
What is most valuable?
The best features Barracuda CloudGen Firewall offers in my opinion are flexibility in deployment, basic SD-WAN, edge firewall, and application visibility and web filtering.
Out of flexibility in deployment, SD-WAN, edge firewall, application visibility, and web filtering, the one that has had the biggest impact for my team is basic web filtering to back up on devices.
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall offers a cost-effective SD-WAN for our small organization, even for the smaller sites.
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall has positively impacted my organization by serving as both our primary edge firewalls and our SD-WAN concentrator and endpoints. We have noticed some return on investments, especially since it is very cost-effective for any type of organization. It prevents IBR attacks and has helped us during this pandemic. It has a good, easy-to-use interface.
What needs improvement?
One of the main challenges that we face with Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is that the URL filtering and application control license are not perpetual and need to be renewed every year, so it can be a bit expensive.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Barracuda CloudGen Firewall for almost a year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is very stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall handles my organization's growth well, so it is very scalable.
How are customer service and support?
For the few times that I have reached out to them, Barracuda CloudGen Firewall's customer support has been very proactive and supportive. I would rate the customer support an eight out of ten, but sometimes they are unreachable. They should improve on that.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I previously used AWS Backup before switching to Barracuda CloudGen Firewall.
How was the initial setup?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is that the setup was easy and quick, with no time wasted. However, the price can get a bit expensive, especially for a small organization working on a tight budget.
What was our ROI?
In terms of return on investment, the firewall admin application has given value. This program saves a ton of time in configuration versus using the web-based configuration. You can only pick one, and for me, it is a no-brainer. I would turn the web-based configuration off and use the app to save a lot of time.
I have seen a return on investment as it helps to prevent cyber attacks and optimize network and user management. The security has been improved and made more reliable over the past few months.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Before choosing Barracuda CloudGen Firewall, I evaluated Juniper AP series access points.
What other advice do I have?
My advice to others looking into using Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is that it is one of the best next-generation tools that has been very helpful in my organization by providing deep inspection, deep packet inspection, and built-in IPS to look out for any attacks. It also has robust hardware that supports more than 50 to 80,000 simultaneous connections, being very stable. It offers web protection with URL filtering functionality and application control, making it one of the best tools.
My additional thoughts about Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is that the experience has been positive for using this tool with solid protection with easy management and control of the network. The firewall also allows home office use through VPN remote access for our employees to use for work. It has been a very great tool.
I would rate my overall experience with Barracuda CloudGen Firewall as a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Centralized security management has protected our hybrid network and supports secure remote work
What is our primary use case?
My main use case for Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is for our network security and network traffic management. I rely on it most often for protecting the networks from threats and ensuring secure connectivity.
In addition to network security, I use Barracuda CloudGen Firewall for VPN access for remote employees, application traffic control, and monitoring network performance. It helps us ensure smooth and secure operation across all our locations.
We faced an issue where our network was experiencing unauthorized access attempts and unusual traffic spikes. Barracuda CloudGen Firewall helped us by blocking the malicious traffic in real time, preventing potential breaches, and ensuring continuous secure connectivity for our employees.
What is most valuable?
The standout features of Barracuda CloudGen Firewall are advanced threat protection, which effectively blocks malware and unauthorized access. Centralized management allows me to monitor and control multiple sites from a single dashboard. Application traffic controls, VPN support, real-time monitoring, and reporting help quickly identify and resolve network issues.
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall has had a positive impact on my organization. It has strengthened network security, prevented unauthorized access, and ensured reliable connectivity for all employees. Additionally, features such as VPN support, traffic management, and real-time monitoring have helped us operate efficiently and securely across multiple locations.
The centralized management feature allows our team to monitor and control all network locations from a single dashboard, saving time and reducing complexity. The real-time monitoring helps us quickly identify unusual traffic patterns and potential threats, allowing us to respond immediately and maintain secure and uninterrupted network operations.
What needs improvement?
Overall, Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is very effective, but there is always room for improvement. One area that could be enhanced is the user interface, making it slightly more intuitive for new users. Additionally, advanced reporting and analytics could be more customized to provide deeper insights. Despite this, the firewall performs reliably and meets most of our organizational needs.
One additional improvement that could enhance the experience is faster troubleshooting support or more detailed guided documentation for complex configurations. While the firewall is reliable, having more step-by-step tutorials or video guidance could help new users set up and optimize. Overall, the enhancement would make the platform even more user-friendly without affecting its current strong performance.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Barracuda CloudGen Firewall for three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
In our experience, Barracuda CloudGen Firewall has been very stable and reliable. We have not encountered any significant downtime, and the system consistently performs as expected. Its robust infrastructure and real-time monitoring give us the confidence that our network remains secure and operational at all times.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall has excellent scalability. As our organization has grown, we have been able to easily add more sites, users, and applications without degrading performance. Its flexible licensing and hybrid deployment options allow it to adapt to evolving network requirements, ensuring continuous security and reliable operations.
How are customer service and support?
Our experience with Barracuda CloudGen Firewall customer support has been very positive. The support team is responsive and knowledgeable, assisting us promptly whenever we have faced configuration questions or technical issues. Their guidance has helped us resolve problems quickly and maintain smooth network operations.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We did not use another solution before. Barracuda CloudGen Firewall was selected as our primary solution due to its comprehensive security features and ease of management.
How was the initial setup?
We purchased Barracuda CloudGen Firewall through the AWS Marketplace, which made deployment and subscription management straightforward.
What was our ROI?
We have seen a clear return on investment with Barracuda CloudGen Firewall. By blocking potential security threats proactively, we have avoided costly security incidents. The centralized management and automation features have reduced manual monitoring efforts, saving our IT team several hours per week. While exact numbers vary, overall, it has improved operational efficiency and reduced the risk of downtime, which translates into tangible cost savings for our organization.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Our experience with Barracuda CloudGen Firewall pricing and licensing has been reasonable and transparent. The setup cost was aligned with the features and security it provided. The licensing is flexible, allowing us to scale according to the number of users and sites, which has been helpful for our organization's growth. Overall, we found the investment to be worthwhile given the level of security and functionality it delivers.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Before choosing Barracuda CloudGen Firewall, we evaluated other options, such as Amazon's and Fortinet Generation. We ultimately selected Barracuda CloudGen Firewall because it offered better centralized management, robust security features, and flexible deployment options that best suited our organization's needs.
What other advice do I have?
I would advise others considering Barracuda CloudGen Firewall to take full advantage of its centralized management and real-time monitoring features. Proper planning during deployment and leveraging VPN and application control capabilities can maximize security and operational efficiency. Overall, it is a reliable and scalable solution for organizations looking to strengthen their network security. I would rate the customer support for Barracuda CloudGen Firewall a nine out of ten, and I would rate this product a nine out of ten overall.