topic Re: Qs about bidirectional NAT offerings in General Topics

Qs about bidirectional NAT offerings

jeffersoncoelhojr — Tue, 18 Mar 2025 00:07:01 GMT

I am looking for a router/firewall with the following specs:

at least 10 1Gb ports
supporting bidirectional NAT
compact

Can someone point me to PA products which would meet these very loose specs? Not sure if every PA device supports it.

Re: Qs about bidirectional NAT offerings

JayGolf — Tue, 18 Mar 2025 07:08:37 GMT

Hi @jeffersoncoelhojr

Quick question, do you currently have any Palos?

The PA-1400 series would be a good starting point to consider, as it meets your requirement for 10+ 1Gb ports in a compact form factor. The PA-400 series is the smallest hardware firewall available but supports only up to 8 physical connections, which may not meet your needs.

I’d recommend reviewing key factors such as use case (Is this for a SOHO, larger branch, or another type of environment?) traffic throughput, features required, and future growth.

Also, take a look at the Next-Generation Firewall Comparison Guide to help narrow down options as you review your needs.

Hope this helps! & feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions!

Re: Qs about bidirectional NAT offerings

jeffersoncoelhojr — Tue, 18 Mar 2025 18:40:22 GMT

> Quick question, do you currently have any Palos?

No - not yet.

Thanks for the pointers. It is been a while since I last procured networking gear, and in a sense it seems the boxes are now spec'd differently. For instance, looking at the pa-1400 data sheet I see "NAT modes (IPv4): static IP, Dynamic IP, Dynamic IP and Port (port address translation)" - but I see no mention of bidirectional NAT. For example, some vendors support N-1 NAT - but bidirectional NAT is not supported. Just not getting the reassurance I was looking for.