Feature overview of Linux and BSD firewall and router distributions

Note: This post features two, long tables. Unless you want to scroll from here to Timbuktu, it is highly recommended that you do not try to view this (post) on a single page, that is, do not click the “View All” link above or below this post.

The material presented in this table is based on a default installation of the distros. Some distros (IPCop, IPFire, pfSense, Smoothwall Express, and Untangle, for example) are modular by design, and the basic functionality can be extended by an additional installation of plugins, addons, or mods.

Features	IPCop	IPFire	pfSense	SmoothWall Express	Zeroshell
Based on	Linux (kernel 2.4)	Linux (kernel 2.6)	FreeBSD, but using openBSD's pf	Linux (kernel 2.6)	Linux (kernel 2.6)
Installer	Ncurses	Ncurses	Text-based	Ncurses	No installation. Boots and runs from CD
Management	Browser-based (HTTP & HTTPS), console, shell (SSH)	Browser-based (HTTPS), console, SSH	Browser-based (HTTP & HTTPS), console, SSH	Browser-based (HTTP & HTTPS), console, SSH	Browser-based (HTTPS), console, SSH
Interfaces	Wired (wireless not detected during installation)	Wired and wireless.	Wired and wireless. Bridge.	Wired (wireless not detected during installation)	Wired (wireless not detected during setup). Bridge, interface bonding
VLAN Support	No	No	Yes	No	Yes
WiFi Mode	No	AP, only if hostapd is installed. Requires manual configuration if installed	Access Point (AP), BSS, IBSS	No	AP (with Multiple/Virtual SSID support) or a wireless client
Failover/Load Balancing/HA	No	No	Server and gateway failover (CARP) and active-active inbound and outbound load balancing. Failover with state table replication.	No	Yes
Routing	Static routes	Static routes	Static routes, RIP, BGP, OLSR	Static routes	Static routes, RIPv2 (with MD5 or plain text authentication)
Captive Portal	No	No	Yes (HTTP and HTTPS). "Reverse" portal not supported	No	Yes. "Reverse" portal not supported
Network Services	DHCP, Dyn DNS, NTP, Traffic shaping (QoS)	DHCP, DNS, NTP, NAT, QoS	DHCP, Dyn DNS, NAT, QoS, NTP, IPv6 tunneling, Wake on LAN. Network, host and port aliases	DHCP, DNS, Dyn DNS, NTP, NAT, QoS	DHCP, DNS, Dyn DNS, NTP, NAT, QoS
Firewall & VPN	Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI) firewall. Site-site and remote access IPSec VPN.	SPI firewall. Site-site and remote access IPSec VPN. Site-site SSL VPN	SPI firewall. Site-site and remote access IPSec and SSL VPN. PPTP server	SPI firewall. Site-site IPSec VPN.	SPI firewall. Remote access IPSec VPN. Site-site and remote access SSL VPN
Web Services	Web proxy	Transparent Web proxy	No	Web proxy	No
Mail Services	No	No	No	POP3 proxy	No
IM & P2P	No	No	No	IM proxy	No
VoIP Services	No	No	No	Transparent or non-transparent SIP proxy	No
IDS/IPS	IDS (Snort)	IDS, with Snort Community and VRT rules	No	IDS (Snort)	No
Authentication, Authorization	Local	Local, RADIUS, IDENTD, LDAP, Active Directory	Local, RADIUS	Local	Local, RADIUS, NIS, LDAP, Kerberos 5, Active Directory interoperability
Logs/Reports	Local and remote syslog	Local and remote syslog. System and traffic SVG graphs, bar and pie charts. Hardware-health graphs	Local and remote. Real time and historical usage SVG and RRD graphs	Local. System and traffic graphs, bandwidth bars	Local and remote syslog. MRTG graphs (most graphs require activation key)
Backup/Restore	Yes, with backup encryption	Yes	Yes. Optional fee-based auto backup with encryption of archives	Yes	Yes. Config saved to external media
Updates/Updating	Manual system updates	Automatic system and signature updates. Automatic addon installation	Manual and automatic system updates (your choice)	Automatic system updates	Automatic system updates.
Minimum Hardware Requirements	Intel x86 and alpha architectures. 12 MB+ RAM, 250 MB+ HD	PC (x86 and x86-64) and embedded systems. 96 MB+ RAM	Intel x86 and ia64, amd64, powerpc, pc98, sparc64. 128 MB+ RAM, 1 GB+ HD. 128 MB compact flash card for embedded systems.	Standard PC - Intel/AMD 32- and 64-bit architectures	PC (x86 and x86-64) and embedded systems. 96 MB+ RAM
License/Price	Free Software, GPL license. No IP address restrictions	Free Software - GPLv2 license. No IP address restrictions	Free Software, BSD license. No IP address restrictions	Free Software, GPL license. No IP address restrictions	Free Software - GPLv2 license. No IP address restrictions
Links	Read more	IPFire	Read more	Read more	Read more

HE: Home Edition
CE: Community Edition
Table 1 on Page 1 features Astaro, Endian, EnGarde, Untangle, and Vyatta.