Hardware firewalls are appliances designed to provide a perimeter defence to your Local Area Network onsite. Software firewalls provide different security benefits and drawbacks. They protect only the device running the software, usually a desktop computer. If you are running Windows10, there is no need to spend any more , since Windows Defender is a very good product that will protect your computer for free.

Given that network startup after power or network interruption is a critical vulnerability period for a small, remote location to be protected, it is best that a hardware firewall is in place in library networks.

Five firewall options for libraries are listed below. There are many more available.

• SonicWall : A versatile solution with many technical functions in small networks
• Cisco ASA : comprehensive solution for mid- sized networks with multiple locations
• Sophos XG : Most versatile firewall option for mid-sized organizations
• Fortinet : fortigate appliance scalable solution
• WatchGuard : Fast unified threat management (UTM) option