You have many choices for firewall applications. This chapter discusses one possible choice: pfSense. The pfSense firewall is a host software firewall. It supports many different network types and is a practical solution for just about any organization. While there are several options for a software firewall, pfSense is a well-known and widely installed option.

Key features of the pfSense firewall include:

• Compatibility with a wide range of hardware and systems
• Flexibility and ease of use
• Comprehensive reporting and logging capabilities
• Web proxy support
• Snort intrusion detection system (IDS) support
• Static and dynamic Domain Name System (DNS) support
• Remote access and VPN support
• Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) and network time server support
• GeoIP blocking
• NAT mapping (inbound/outbound)
• System updates
• IDS/IPS
• Load balancing
• Traffic shaping
• Transparent caching proxy
• Web content filter
• Multiple IP addresses per interface
• Built on a stable, well-supported platform of FreeBSD
• Free documentation and resource library