Related Articles

• 1 Set Up DMZ on SonicWALL
• 2 The Importance of a Firewall
• 3 Choose a Firewall
• 4 Find a Firewall Port Number

Firewalls, both hardware and software, protect computers from hackers and other online threats by blocking dangerous pieces of data from reaching the system. While hardware firewalls offer network-wide protection from external threats, software firewalls installed on individual computers can more closely inspect data, and can block specific programs from even sending data to the Internet. On networks with high security concerns, combining both kinds of firewalls provides a more complete safety net.

Hardware Firewalls

A hardware firewall sits between your local network of computers and the Internet. The firewall will inspect all the data that comes in from the Internet, passing along the safe data packets while blocking the potentially dangerous packets. In order to properly protect a network without hindering performance, hardware firewalls require expert setup, and so may not be a feasible solution for companies without a dedicated IT department. For businesses with many computers, however, being able to control network security from one single device simplifies the job.

Software Firewalls

Software firewalls are installed on individual computers on a network. Unlike hardware firewalls, software firewalls can easily distinguish between programs on a computer. This lets them allow data to one program while blocking another. Software firewalls can also filter outgoing data, as well as remote responses to outgoing requests. The major downside to software firewalls for a business is their upkeep: they require installation, updating and administration on each individual computer.

Routers

In order to share an Internet connection between multiple computers, routers must distinguish which pieces of data need to go to which computer. The process of separating the data acts as a kind of firewall: if unwanted data comes in, the router will not identify it as belonging to any computer, and thus will discard it. This level of protection serves adequately for home use; along with a software firewall, it's also enough for many business networks that don't require high security. However, routers generally lack the options and advanced features that dedicated hardware firewalls offer.

Combining Firewalls

Using a single software firewall along with a router or hardware firewall will strengthen network security without posing any compatibility issues. Using multiple software firewalls, however, can cause conflicts, hampering proper operation. Businesses highly concerned with network security can put together multiple hardware firewalls, minimizing any weaknesses in each, but this requires careful expert setup to avoid incompatibilities and blocking of legitimate data.

About the Author

Aaron Parson has been writing about electronics, software and games since 2006, contributing to several technology websites and working with NewsHour Productions. Parson holds a Bachelor of Arts from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash.

Photo Credits

• Thomas Northcut/Photodisc/Getty Images

Choose Citation Style

Difference between Software and Program: If we talk about our daily uses, then software and program can be used interchangeably. But there is a huge difference in between software and program in technical language.

As software is a collection of programs and data files that are designed to perform some operations and on the other hand, program is a set of instructions that perform only a specific task that it is made for. In this article, we will discuss the basic difference between Software and Program in tabular format to make it easily understandable.

So it was all about Difference between Software and Program. If you have doubt then please comment below or add more difference between program and software.