Anti-CC attack: Comparison between software firewalls and WEB firewalls

CC attacks are extremely low-cost DDOS attacks. As long as there are hundreds of IP addresses and each IP address gets several processes, there can be hundreds of thousands of concurrent requests, it is easy to exhaust server resources, resulting in website downtime; defense against CC attacks, the hardware firewall is not very effective, because the IP address volume of CC attacks is too small, it is difficult to trigger the defense mechanism, however, software firewalls and WEB firewalls are easier to defend against.
So what is the difference between the software firewall and the WEB firewall? How do I choose software firewalls and WEB firewalls?



In order to give everyone a better understanding of the software firewall and WEB firewall, a comprehensive comparison of the two may allow everyone to better understand the website firewall, select a firewall suitable for your website.

In terms of definition

Software Firewall refers to the firewall software installed on the server. It focuses on Windows Server firewalls, such as ice shield. The installation and use process is the same as that of common software. For firewall software installed in Linux, there are also many, but the installation and use process is more complicated.

The WEB firewall is not clearly defined. It generally refers to the website application-level intrusion defense system. It supports common firewall functions, but does not need to be directly installed on the server, instead, it is built on the line between users and servers to directly implement application layer protection. There are already many third-party WEB firewalls in China, such as jiasule, which can be directly used without modifying the host environment.

In terms of functions

No matter what firewall is used to intercept CC attacks, the functions are the same. By comparing the ratio of the TCP link to the IP address, we can further determine whether the IP address is abnormal and whether to intercept the attack; as for the anti-Black and anti-tampering functions, WEB firewalls are often used to promote the function. However, many excellent software firewalls also began to have similar functions. In terms of functions, there is little difference between the two.

From the difficulty of getting started

No matter what users, they naturally want to use the firewall in a simpler way. Which of the software firewalls and WEB firewalls is more convenient to use?

If you want to use the software firewall, you must first have control over the server. You must use your own server or VPS to download and install the firewall software. After installation, follow the tutorial to set it, windows may take 20 minutes, but Linux may take half an hour. In general, as long as you can find a suitable tutorial, it is not very difficult to install it.

For WEB firewalls, you do not need to install software on your own servers. Instead, you need to modify the NS or CNAME record of the domain name. The effective time is very short and the whole process is simpler. It is like using jiasule, from account registration to official use, it may take 5 minutes to complete.

From the perspective of protection strength

For the software firewall, because it is installed on the server, every attack Interception will occupy server resources, such as CPU and memory resources. Therefore, the protection strength of the software firewall is related to the server configuration, usually very limited.

In comparison, the WEB Firewall is a firewall that is separated from the server. Attacks that users encounter are not directly reported to the server, but intercepted on the firewall server. The configuration of the firewall server is generally not bad, the performance is naturally better than that of servers or VPS with fewer resources.

From the billing perspective

Whether it is software firewall or WEB firewall, it is basically free to use for Small and Medium-sized websites, and large websites are charged on demand. From this point of view, the difference between the two is not very obvious, pay as you go, you can always find a suitable firewall.

How to select a firewall

From the above comparison, the advantages of WEB firewall in resource occupation, getting started with difficulty, and protection strength are more obvious, and novice Webmasters can learn to use it quickly. The custom function of software firewall is more powerful, it can be configured based on the actual situation of the website. For Professional webmasters, there is room for better use and a very secure website firewall can be configured.

In addition, this is not a two-choice problem. If you have your own server, you can install a software firewall first, and then use a third-party WEB firewall. Dual protection is more secure, isn't it?