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I have an organization with about 50 users. We are currently using a Sonicwall Pro 2040, but are looking to upgrade since it is getting old.

I am comparing two UTM solutions–the Sonicwall NSA 4500 and the Endian Mercury–and they seem pretty evenly matched.

I have two questions:

  1. Are these overkill for 50 users? Assuming they are not, then;
  2. Which model should I choose?

Unfortunately since I am a new user, I can't post two direct links, but the Endian Mercury is easily searchable.

Sonicwall NSA 4500

Endian Mercury

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Added the other link for you. – ErikA Aug 27 '10 at 2:37
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closed as too localized by Mark Henderson♦ Jan 23 at 1:05

This question is unlikely to ever help any future visitors; it is only relevant to a small geographic area, a specific moment in time, or an extraordinarily narrow situation that is not generally applicable to the worldwide audience of the internet. See the FAQ for guidance on how to improve it.

2 Answers

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I'm not familiar with the Endian products, but I can say that the NSA4500 is extremely overpowered for 50 users. Honestly, a TZ200 or 210 would be more than adequate (and save you many thousands of dollars). Even if you splurged and got an NSA240, that's a significant price difference.

This is all assuming you aren't doing any outlandish network stuff. But even then I'd find it hard to believe you need the power or throughput of the NSA4500.

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-1 - The number of users is not an indication of need. Our headquarters office staffs less than 50 users. Based on your recommendation, I would have been fired years ago. Our pair of NSA4500s are quite strained during the busiest times of the year... – Cypher Jun 30 '11 at 21:06
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I agree, there are a lot of factors at play here. But based on the limited information provided, for an "average" office of 50 people, that is a lot of firewall. I would imagine that in the majority of cases, that's overkill. – Jim G. Jun 30 '11 at 21:23
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I think anyone that tries to tell you which device to purchase based solely on the number of users is providing you with a disservice. There are many other considerations to be weighed. Your first concern should be, "Does it have all the functionality we require?" Your second concern should be, "Will it have all the functionality we will require in the next few years?"

If you are concerned as to whether or not these devices are overkill, you will have to provide a lot more details about your office, your network, the services supplied to your users, the services you will require in the near future, and an estimate on how much aggregate traffic will be moving through this device.

That being said, I'm quite satisfied with the SonicWall line of products - they are very versatile devices. You should really be asking yourself why you are upgrading. Is your device no longer meeting expectations? Is it falling out of support?

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