Firewall architecture overview
The current firewall architecture best suited for businesses today is a converged infrastructure, or data center firewall. This architecture is usually paired with a physical firewall to provide protection. These two pieces of hardware are then used to protect the company’s broader network infrastructure. The advantage of this architecture is its ability to adapt quickly as well as being able to scale throughout the business’s changing needs.
Converged infrastructures are made up of a cluster of servers connected to each other using high performance networks. These highly integrated systems handle standard server tasks and can also run applications, such as firewalls. This allows the firewall to be integrated into the infrastructure and take on more complex tasks, such as advanced analytics functions. This is why, today, the converged architecture is one of the most common models.

The most common firewall deployment models
The converged architecture is the most common, as it offers its users the flexibility to move as needed and allows for easy scaling throughout the business’s changing needs. It also offers robust performance. The two most common deployment models of the converged architecture are appliance and software-defined. On demand, or always on, models are common in some industries, such as finance and government. But even though they may be more efficient at scaling large networks within a single organization, these firewalls do not offer the flexibility to move as needed, and do not always perform well in all environments. So an always on model can’t be the solution for all businesses.
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