As we’ve mentioned in previous posts, the ongoing pandemic has placed unprecedented demands on IT teams to adapt in an ever-changing environment. Virtualization, a key strategy for most organizations even prior to 2020, has helped these teams respond with agility to rapidly shifting business requirements.
With the release of the latest StoneOS version earlier this month, IT admins gain important new tools to help consolidate security through the power of virtualization. Hillstone StoneOS 5.5R8 brings key firewall and security feature updates to Hillstone VSYS (virtual system), which contribute to the simplification and reduction of the overall operation and management efforts. Most Hillstone physical NGFWs support VSYSs, used for multitenancy and segmentation of security services.
VSYSs divide a physical device into multiple, isolated, logical virtual firewalls. Each VSYS has its own system resources, performs firewall functionality, and works as a completely independent firewall. VSYSs are “walled off” from each other to provide distinct interfaces, administration, policy rules and other functions.
VSYS is ideal for deployments where organizational, supervisory or regulatory requirements demand the segregation of network resources, applications, and/or data. Examples include HIPAA or PCI-DSS compliance, managed service providers with multiple client companies, and enterprise departments that manage personal confidential information like HR and payroll.
In addition, most new features are available in a new model added to the Hillstone CloudEdge virtual firewall family: VM08, a feature-rich and powerful VM-based firewall that runs in the cloud.
New Firewall and Security Feature Updates
Included in the latest StoneOS are several important updates for IT admins:
- Robust feature set on non-root VSYS: The new release brings additional feature sets such as IP reputation, AV, iQoS, and IPv6 traffic forwarding to the non-root virtual systems, i.e. the partitioned firewalls. This capability allows each VSYS to operate independently as a fully functioning firewall.
- Simplified management and operations: All VSYS configurations are available for exporting for backup and importing for restoration via the system’s WebUI.
- High-end, virtual firewall model: For customers with high-bandwidth workloads that require higher performance without compromising on security features, the new VM08 offers twice the performance as the nearest CloudEdge model, with the most concurrent sessions, IPsec sessions, and SSL VPN users available.
In addition, the configuration for AWS has been improved for all CloudEdge virtual firewalls, and SR-IOV support has been enhanced. vNIC performance on Azure Hyper-V has been improved as well, as has CloudEdge communication with the license management system (LMS) when running in passive mode.
Take Advantage of the Latest StoneOS Today!
Hillstone StoneOS 5.5R8 includes more than a hundred upgrades and enhancements to provide the most comprehensive, agile, reliable and easy-to-use security solution for enterprise data centers. These capabilities are available for the enterprise Hillstone E- or T-Series NGFWs, X-Series data center firewalls, and the Hillstone CloudEdge virtual NGFWs in the data center or cloud. These security platforms provide future-proof protection and an intuitive user interface from the edge to the cloud.
Consolidate security with the power of virtualization, and gain high performance, reliability and availability for your data center and cloud by upgrading today. You can learn more about the latest StoneOS release in the Hillstone Resources section of our website, or by contacting us.
