Which firewall has the lowest CPU and memory usage?

///nods in agreement///

 

CHX - 1. Nothing Beat it ( apart from Hardware )

Honestly i personally think getting Firefox or Opera 8 is more important than a firewall. So if you are still using IE ( or any other IE based Browser such as Maxthon or Avant Browser ) you should take a look at firefox and opera 8 first.

And since you are new to the forum ( may be you have been reading the forum without register ) I suggest you go to read some more on Firewall. Coz to properly config one is not as easy as one may think.

 

Kerio 2.15 or NetVeda.

 

Hi Iwod,

I realize everyone has differing personal opinions, but I think your advice is wrong. A firewall (assuming no router) and an AV are a basic must have. I don't want to start a browser war, but IE can be locked down tight as a drum, so that would preclude a need to switch browsers as being a more important first move for security.

I got to agree with you on configuring a firewall. It seems like a person could spend a lifetime trying to tweak out a perfect firewall. When I got broadband, the first thing I did was to get a router.

Just my opinion.

Regards,

Jaws

 

Yea......i agree my advice are wrong . Coz i havent been living in a enviorment without Hardware Firewall for a long time.

Personally i think i dun need it. And i never recommand it to any of my friends becoz of its complicity. Simply becoz my philosophy of proection is simple or adequate protection with Common Sense.

But may be i shouldn't be giving this Non adviceable soloution on a public forum. So back to orginal questions.
After many years of searching and testing. I can conclude;

1. There is never a firewall that is easy and simple enough to understand to computer noob. Zone Alarm was the closest it get.

2. All easy to use Firewall are not light resources.

To directly answer your questions, the answer is Hardware Firewall. Or A router ( most of new ones have firewall built in )

For Software Soloution, CHX-1, Although i dont know if that count as a prober software firewall.

Otherwise use LnS. I have had very very good experience with LnS. It was light and not so hard to config. ( for me ) I suggest you start with this.

If you still find LnS too hard. Than may be you should try the older version of Zone Alarm. they aren't as heavy as today 's version.

 

After trying out almost every firewall there as a replacement to my trusted and low resource Kerio 2.15, I finally decided to settle on CHX for good, use Prevx, Secure IT, Harden IT and Avast as the only other layer of defense. I also diligently use TCP Viewer to check for anything connecting out. I have used EMSA port blocker to block out ports 135, 139 and 445 for outbound. Very happy with this setup, running it for a month, my system is also happy as the resource use is quite low, with proper rules, CHX is formidable, I have outbound susceptible Trojan activity ports blocked, CHX does amazing job of TCP, UDP and ICMP filtering with superb logging so of you know what you are doing, you are fully protected.

 

This whole thread is a bit of a joke...

...since the purpose of the firewall is to provide protection, memory is rather cheap and processing power isn't exactly in short supply these days either.

Dump the software and go for a hardware solution if lowest resource use is your highest criteria in selecting a firewall.

That last statement is the reason this thread is a joke, firewalls should be selected primarily on their ability to provide security.

<shakes head>

 

Glad I made you laugh, cant' comprehend how though, CHX provides the best security when configured correctly, far better than most or probably any regular firewalls out there.

 

"Configured properly"...

...and that is another issue. Many don't know how to configure the most basic of firewalls correctly.

The biggest part of the equation here is the person doing the configuration. The most advanced firewalls, and often the most difficult to configure, are useless in the hands of someone without the prerequisite skills to do so.

Even the importion of pre-defined rules from those who do know what they are doing by those who don't is something of a crap-shoot since each installation is essentially custom.

 

I fully agree with you on the configuration issue, but then, most of the good ones always needed so, even the easy to use ZA will need for the user to know about server rights and don't expect a novice to handle that either.

Kerio 2.15 was only formidable when its existing rules were deleted and good rules were created for it, in the same sense, CHX is absolutely correct in not giving out of box rulesets, they realize that each and every machine is different, and therefore subject to different rule making needs as well, they do however give a good, basic ruleset sample to start with.

As I said before, properly configured CHX, but I should probably make it general, properly configured firewall in general is what it should mean.

Speaking of RAM, I have two dual CPU machines, one dual P-III 850 with 1GB ram, other a dual AMD 64 with 2GB, even with all that RAM, my experience is that any program which creates many processes and threads tend to slow down the system in general and things like compilers, vector renderer, video editors all start running slow and feel the impact, IMHO, a firewall and an anti virus should be as unobtrusive and resource friendly as possible as they only form the security layer of a PC, not an application layer.

 

Can I have a link to CHX-1 or nevada firewall please? Ditching zonealarm.

 

You can find CHX-I here:

http://www.idrci.net/idrci_products.htm

I highly recommend that you read thru the online docs before using it. With CHX-I this is mandatory for understanding how it works.

 

For NetVeda it is www.netveda.net

 

What could you say about Kerio Personal Firewall 4.1.3 ?