Question about dedicated servers and firewall as a service. How relevant is firewall as a service today?

[introserv_rd]

I am curious to know how relevant is the firewall service today. I am very interested to hear your opinion, and also what type it can be (hardware or software)?

 

[Greenhost.cloud]

Still super relevant, especially with how often sites get poked at these days. Both hardware and software firewalls have their place; hardware's great at the edge, but software firewalls give you more control right at the server level.

 

[OffshoreRacks]

Very relevant, you should have minimum (3), between your clients (in case of infected client with malware), in front of the internet (classic), and on the carrier in form of Gre tunnel ddos protection, inline protection from carrier, or blackhole /32 announcement.

 

[ITivan80]

Depending the firewalls can be software based or actual physical firewall device. I prefer actual firewall device. It gives you the autonomy to control that firewall as you see fit.

 

[Mivocloud]

It is still necessary and very useful in your work, so it is better to use it to increase the security of your server and, of course, your business.

 

[Daria Pro]

Firewall as a Service (FWaaS) is very relevant today, especially for dedicated servers. It provides cloud-based, centralized protection that’s easy to manage and scales with your needs. Unlike hardware firewalls, it updates automatically and works seamlessly across locations. If you’re handling sensitive data or critical apps, FWaaS can simplify security and save you time.

Clear enough? 😊

 

[Hostmaster-Nick]

Firewalls are absolutely necessary, but particularly FWaaS also has its use. It's not a hardware firewall, however, it can be set up in the cloud, on a VM, or CDN. Overall, FWaaS is used for its flexibility, scalability and speed, especially if there are remote teams or multiple tenants that need access to the server.

 

[Aashiq_wesley]

Firewalls are still very important today. What has changed is how we use them. It’s not just about blocking ports anymore. Now firewalls help filter traffic smarter, protect websites and apps, and keep up with new types of online threats.

 

[voxfor]

Firewall as a Service is highly relevant today because it offers real-time threat protection, scalability, and easier management compared to traditional hardware firewalls. For dedicated servers, it ensures stronger security, lower maintenance overhead, and better adaptability to evolving cyber threats.

 

[webserverforum]

hardware firewall : can be used for dedicated servers only

software firewall : can be used with dedicated as well as with cloud servers as its basically a software program

firewall-as-a-service is basically cloud based firewall which do need a hardware to install separately and can be managed remotely too, easy to deploy and as mentioned by "voxfor" importantly its scalable !
for a hardware firewall, it needs installation on a dedicated hardware, separate cabling, additional power etc. where as software firewall can be installed on the same server without additional hardware requirement

 

[asiadev]

If you're running dedicated servers, a combination of hardware firewall (at the edge) and software firewall (on individual servers) is still considered best practice. However, if your infrastructure is cloud-heavy, FWaaS can be a more practical and cost-effective option.
What does your setup look like - more on-premise or cloud-based? That will influence which approach works best for your needs.

 

[Oboebeeolive]

If you’re selling dedicated hardware or VPS:
- You can offer FWaaS as a value-add product
- Your clients get network-level protection
- You differentiate from providers who only rely on server-side firewalls
This can justify higher service tiers or add-on revenue.

 

[derek_carter]

Firewall services remain highly relevant today as a critical layer of network security. Both hardware and software firewalls are essential, with hardware typically deployed at the network edge and software solutions protecting individual servers or instances. The choice largely depends on your specific infrastructure needs and scale.

 

[Jasonhawley01]

Today, attacks are more about bots, login abuse, API scans, ransomware attempts, and large traffic floods. That is where FWaaS helps, because protection can be updated quickly without changing hardware.

After many years in hosting, my view is simple:

A hardware firewall is best when you need fixed, high-performance protection inside a data center.
A software firewall is best for server-level control and custom rules.
FWaaS is best when you need fast changes, multiple locations, or easier management.

For dedicated servers, FWaaS is often the smartest first layer, while a local software firewall remains the second layer. Security today works best in layers, not with one device alone.

 

[Charlese]

Firewalls remain essential today, but their role has evolved. Moving beyond simple port blocking, modern firewalls intelligently filter traffic, protect web apps, and defend against modern cyber threats.

 

[NiceNIC]

FWaaS still has a place, but it depends what you expect it to do. For dedicated servers, network filtering, server firewall rules, and app-level protection are different layers.

 

[nonamehosts]

I would say it depends on the needs. It can be enough just to have simple OS based firewall for something similar like VPS or dedicated server, but if you need something more complex definitely FWaaS is a thing.

 

[FrancoFang]

There are two different problems in this thread being called the same
word, and separating them makes most of the hardware-versus-software
question go away.

The first is access control - which ports and which sources may reach
the box. nftables on the host does that well, it costs nothing, and an
appliance buys you central policy and convenience rather than
capability.

The second is volumetric absorption, and that is not a firewall problem
at all. It is a question of where the filtering sits relative to your
bottleneck. An appliance in your own rack does nothing about a 10 Gbps
flood arriving on a 1 Gbps uplink - the link is already full before
anything you own gets to inspect a packet. That has to happen upstream
of your port, by whoever owns the transit.

So when a provider says DDoS protection, the useful questions are
narrow. Is mitigation always on, or BGP triggered on demand - because on
demand means the first thirty to sixty seconds of every attack reaches
you. What is the committed time to mitigate. Does the filtering cover
UDP, or only TCP and HTTP, since a lot of what is sold as protection was
designed around web servers. And what is the blackhole policy, because
null-routing a /32 is sometimes presented as protection when it is
really the point where protection gave up.

Provider side here.