I’m Kayla. I run a few Linux servers at home and at small client sites. I’ve racked gear in noisy closets, and I’ve babysat boxes in a quiet office. I care about two things: don’t drop packets, and don’t make my life hard.
Here’s the thing. A host firewall like nftables or UFW is great. I still use them on every box. But a physical firewall gives me clean network zones, simple VPNs, and one place for logs. It also saves my servers from doing heavy packet work. So yeah, I like a good box at the edge.
If you’d like a deeper dive into how various Linux distributions behave on the network side, check out the hands-on write-ups at DesktopLinuxReviews.
I’ve also put together a full breakdown of the appliances themselves—check out the complete roundup of physical firewalls I’ve tested.
Below are the physical firewalls I’ve used, with real notes from real jobs.
Fortinet FortiGate 60F/100F — Fast, small, and kind of bossy
Where I used it:
- A 6-server Proxmox stack in a co-lo
- A small SaaS shop with a private GitLab and a public API
What I liked:
- The 60F is tiny but fast. IPS on, still snappy.
- SSL-VPN “just worked” for my devs on Linux, macOS, and Windows.
- Great VLANs. I kept prod, staging, and mgmt neat and tidy.
- Logs are clear. I saw an SSH brute force at 2 a.m., blocked, and went back to sleep.
What bugged me:
- You pay for the threat feeds. Worth it for clients, but it adds up.
- The UI can be busy. I keep a notepad of where things live.
- Policy changes feel “heavy.” Save, then wait a beat.
A real win:
I had a self-hosted Docker registry on a Linux VM. Hairpin NAT was quirky at first. One policy tweak fixed it, and pushes flew. It made me smile.
Pick this if: you want speed, clean IPS, and strong VPNs in a small box.
Sophos XG 115/125 — Friendly face, strong WAF
Where I used it:
- A small firm with Nextcloud, GitLab Runner, and an internal wiki
- One noisy 8U wall rack with not much airflow
What I liked:
- The policy UI is plain English. Easy to review rules with non-tech folks.
- The built-in WAF helped with a small web app on an Ubuntu VM.
- Reports look nice. Bosses love nice reports.
What bugged me:
- Reboots after firmware took a few minutes. I learned to plan my windows.
- The 115 fan is louder than you think in a tiny office.
A real win:
We blocked a weird spike in outbound DNS from one Debian box. Turned out to be a bad cron job running a sketchy script. The alert made the root cause fast to spot.
Pick this if: you want a friendly UI and a built-in WAF for simple web stuff.
Untangle NG Firewall (now ETM) on a fanless box — Easy modules, easy life
Where I used it:
- A doctor’s office with a fanless Protectli FW4C
- Mix of Ubuntu servers and some Windows workstations
What I liked:
- The “apps” model makes sense. Turn on Web Filter, IPS, WireGuard. Done.
- OpenVPN and WireGuard were simple. Remote staff were happy.
- Runs well on quiet, fanless hardware. The room stayed calm.
What bugged me:
- With IPS and AV both on, CPU can spike on small CPUs.
- Licenses cost money. Good support though.
A real win:
Phishing links hit hard one week. Web Filter plus SSL inspection blocked the junk. Fewer help desk calls. I slept better.
Pick this if: you want an easy GUI UTM on your own x86 box, and you like quiet gear.
IPFire on Protectli/Qotom — Open, stable, and frugal
Where I used it:
- My home lab: two Debian hosts, one TrueNAS, a K3s node
- One trunk port to a managed switch, many VLANs
What I liked:
- The “Green/Red/Blue/Orange” zones keep things simple.
- Suricata IPS add-on is solid for home and small office.
- Updates are steady. Not flashy, but steady.
What bugged me:
- The UI feels older. It’s fine, just not pretty.
- Some add-ons need more hand-holding.
A real win:
I pinned my lab K3s nodes to a “Blue” network. My kids’ tablets sat on “Green.” No cross talk. My media server stayed safe from random Minecraft mods. Peace in the house.
Pick this if: you want open-source, a calm UI, and a quiet fanless box.
VyOS on a 1U Supermicro — When you speak CLI
Where I used it:
- A small rack with two Ubuntu gateway nodes
- BGP with an upstream, VRRP for failover
What I liked:
- It’s Debian under the hood. The CLI feels clean and sane.
- Great for BGP, OSPF, VRFs, policy routing, and nerd stuff.
- Once set, it stays set. Rock solid.
What bugged me:
- It’s CLI first. If that scares you, skip it.
- LTS builds need a subscription. Rolling works, but plan your snapshots.
A real win:
I ran NAT64 for an IPv6-only lab. My old build tools still reached IPv4 repos. No drama. It just worked.
Pick this if: you’re a network person and want total control.
Ubiquiti Dream Machine Pro/SE — Easy and tidy for simple server needs
Where I used it:
- An e-commerce warehouse with two Ubuntu VMs and a NAS
- Lots of VLANs for cameras, scanners, and Wi-Fi
What I liked:
- The UI is clean. Staff could trace what lived where.
- IPS uses Suricata. For a small site, it was enough.
- One box runs routing, switching (kinda), and controller.
What bugged me:
- Less fine-grained IPS tuning than the big boys.
- When UniFi updates go weird, they go weird. I snapshot first.
A real win:
WireGuard from home to the warehouse was smooth. I shipped logs to a tiny Graylog. When a scanner went noisy, I saw it in minutes.
Pick this if: you want a simple stack and you live in the UniFi world.
OpenWrt on fast little boxes — Tiny rocket, big brains
Where I used it:
- A NanoPi R6S at a design studio
- One Ubuntu web node on a DMZ, Syncthing on LAN
What I liked:
- Crazy fast for the size. 2.5G ports made file moves fly.
- WireGuard is first-class. Remote edits felt local.
- Packages for days. Need AdGuard Home? Done.
What bugged me:
- LuCI is nice, but deep changes can get messy in files.
- Snapshots matter. Keep backups of your config.
A real win:
I did policy-based routing for a single Linux VM through a cheap second ISP. When the main link hiccuped, editors kept working. No one yelled.
Pick this if: you like tinkering and want max value in a tiny box.
But wait—host firewalls still matter
I still set simple rules on every Linux server:
- Only open what the app needs
- Allow SSH from a jump host
- Deny weird egress
- Verify file ownership after every deploy — wrong perms punch bigger holes than any open port
UFW and firewalld make this easy. The box at the edge helps, but the host guards the door too.
If you’re experimenting with self-hosted photo or video communities—think sites where first-time contributors share adult content—studying how established platforms operate can sharpen your capacity-planning and security checklist. A visit to Newbie Nudes showcases the kind of high-throughput image galleries, login bursts, and comment streams that a server and its firewall will need to handle smoothly, offering a real-world reference point when you’re hardening your own stack. Likewise, if you want to see how a smaller, location-specific classifieds site engineers for quick logins and steady image uploads, take a spin through Middletown Backpage where you can observe how lean code, aggressive caching, and tight firewall rules keep costs down while still serving a busy regional audience.
Quick picks by need
- Most small offices: FortiGate 60F
- Web app with WAF and nice reports: Sophos XG 115/125
- Quiet, budget, open-source: IPFire on a Protectli
- Tinker and tune: OpenWrt on NanoPi R6S or a fanless x86
- Heavy routing and BGP: VyOS on a 1U Supermicro
- Simple stack with nice UI: