Does Palo Alto Networks have any effect on CCNP Security?

WiseWun

I have been reading up on Palo Alto Networks "next generation" firewalls and these guys are gaining some serious traction and positive reviews. 4 years in the market and they got close to 4k customers already. Their products are NSS Labs approved and is running on government networks.

Cisco ASA's is stateful firewall among many things but I don't think it has layer 7 functionalities such as the ablity to classify applications based on traffic rather then port numbers, seamless integration with directory services, etc. Features are listed below.

Palo Alto Networks - Features

For those studying the security path, do you feel worried? Are you having second thoughts going for NP Security? Not sure if certifications are available but I see job postings that require you to know the use of their products, thank god is Web GUI based! What is your take on this company, would you recommend or use their products in your environment?

instant000

WiseWun wrote: »

I have been reading up on Palo Alto Networks "next generation" firewalls and these guys are gaining some serious traction and positive reviews. 4 years in the market and they got close to 4k customers already. Their products are NSS Labs approved and is running on government networks.

Cisco ASA's is stateful firewall among many things but I don't think it has layer 7 functionalities such as the ablity to classify applications based on traffic rather then port numbers, seamless integration with directory services, etc. Features are listed below.

Palo Alto Networks - Features

For those studying the security path, do you feel worried? Are you having second thoughts going for NP Security? Not sure if certifications are available but I see job postings that require you to know the use of their products, thank god is Web GUI based! What is your take on this company, would you recommend or use their products in your environment?

I feel that you can show just about any newb how to follow a set of instructions, but if they don't know what they're doing, then their ability to troubleshoot/design solutions will be suspect.

As a matter of getting the job done, I'll use whatever makes the employer-of-the-moment happy. If I had to support Palo Alto, then rest assured I'd be learning all I could about how to configure this product. If I have to support HP, I'm ProCurve all the way! If I have to support Juniper, I'm JunOS all the way!

Let me be clear: It's making sure you understand how the technology works which is most important to me.

And to answer the thread title, no, Palo Alto has no effect, unless you're in an environment that uses it. I'm currently in an environment that uses ASAs, so CCNP:Security makes a lot of sense for me.

WiseWun

instant000 wrote: »

I feel that you can show just about any newb how to follow a set of instructions, but if they don't know what they're doing, then their ability to troubleshoot/design solutions will be suspect.

As a matter of getting the job done, I'll use whatever makes the employer-of-the-moment happy. If I had to support Palo Alto, then rest assured I'd be learning all I could about how to configure this product. If I have to support HP, I'm ProCurve all the way! If I have to support Juniper, I'm JunOS all the way!

Let me be clear: It's making sure you understand how the technology works which is most important to me.

And to answer the thread title, no, Palo Alto has no effect, unless you're in an environment that uses it. I'm currently in an environment that uses ASAs, so CCNP:Security makes a lot of sense for me.

Thanks for your input. I agree about understanding how the technology works rather then following a wizard. Soooo many vendors out there, I just want to stay abreast on the latest technologies. You see it on job boards and your like, huh? What is this company all about?

Bl8ckr0uter

I am in an environment that uses both and I will be deploying both in the next month or so. I think that Palo Alto is going to end up getting purchased by a bigger company down the line. I know of a few shops who swear by their stuff and the interface is very user friendly as is the command line. I would say just make sure you study firewall and ips theory and you will be able to translate those skills to another platform. That said I will be taking secure In the next few weeks with CCNP sec as my end goal