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New Sophos hardware – SD-RED 20 and SD-RED 60 available

New Sophos hardware – SD-RED 20 and SD-RED 60 available

The two new RED appliances have been available for a few weeks now, and the previous models are no longer sold. Time, then, to take a closer look at the new devices and compare them.

RED 15, RED 15w and RED 50 – end of sale

Now that the new models are available, the old ones are no longer needed. Strictly speaking, they only reach end of sale on 31 August 2020. Due to increased demand during the pandemic, however, all RED appliances were already completely sold out across Europe by mid‑March and could no longer be delivered. This supply situation has not changed and will not change, so the products have also disappeared from our shop.

Overview of the old models and their successors

What can a Sophos RED do?

There are always new readers on the blog, including people who are new to Sophos. Because the Sophos RED is a genuinely great product, here is a brief explanation of what it can be used for.

If you already use a Sophos Firewall, regardless of whether it runs the UTM operating system or SFOS, you can deploy Sophos SD-REDs to create VPN connections with very little effort. If you want to connect a branch office or home office to the corporate network, a RED is ideal. All you need is internet access, power and someone on site who knows how to plug in three cables – and the VPN tunnel is up and running. You can find a setup guide here: Set up Sophos RED

The RED is so compelling because it is simple to handle and centrally managed on the firewall. Our customers use REDs to connect a wide range of systems, including:

  • Branch offices
  • Home offices
  • Offsite backup
  • Cameras
  • Point‑of‑sale systems
  • Monitoring devices
  • Building management systems (ventilation, heating, access control)
  • Internet TV from other countries

What is new?

The previous RED generation was already a fantastic solution. So what has changed with the SD-RED?

New name

Let’s start with the name SD-RED. Why no longer just RED? Does the new model offer more? RED stands for “Remote Ethernet Device”, while SD stands for “Software‑Defined” (WAN).

With many vendors currently talking about SD‑WAN, Sophos decided to include the term directly in the product name. In practice, though, the SD-RED does not offer more features than the previous devices. Even the earlier RED models already worked well as a cost‑effective alternative to expensive MPLS lines.

More performance

The RED 50 was launched in August 2014 and the RED 15 in September 2015. Since then, available bandwidths and overall internet usage have increased significantly, so the new SD-REDs provide higher throughput.

  • RED 15 – 90 Mbit/s
  • RED 50 – 360 Mbit/s
  • SD-RED 20 – 250 Mbit/s
  • SD-RED 60 – 850 Mbit/s

More ports

Both the SD-RED 20 and SD-RED 60 support two power supplies. One adapter is included, and a second one can be purchased separately to provide redundant power.

Both models also offer an SFP port, allowing you to choose between a copper or fibre WAN connection. Only one of the two ports can be used at a time. If you need two WAN links, the SD-RED 60 provides two RJ45 WAN interfaces (with WAN1 shared with the SFP port – again, either RJ45 or SFP).

The SD-REDs can additionally be expanded with optional modules. There is therefore no direct successor to the RED 15w; instead, WLAN support can be added via a WiFi module (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac Wave 1 (Wi‑Fi 5) dual‑band 2x2 MIMO with 2 antennas). A Sophos 3G/4G module (MC7430/MC7455 Sierra Wireless card) and a VDSL modem are also available options. For the latter, we unfortunately do not yet have details on the exact standard or availability date.

Like the smaller model, the SD-RED 60 has four LAN ports. Two of these, however, provide PoE with a combined power budget of 30 watts. This means that instead of using the WiFi module, you can connect an APX access point directly, which offers better performance.

Longer warranty

Previously, RED appliances came with a one‑year warranty, with a second year available as an add‑on. The new SD-RED models now include five years of warranty, just like the APX access point series.

Accessories – rack mounting

The new SD-REDs are larger than their predecessors. There are matching rack mounting kits so that the appliances can be installed neatly in a rack.

Licensing

To operate SD-REDs with a UTM or SFOS firewall, you still need a Network Protection licence or a bundle that includes it:

  • Enterprise Guard
  • Enterprise Guard Plus
  • FullGuard
  • FullGuard Plus

For wireless functionality, UTM firewalls additionally require a Wireless Protection licence. On SFOS firewalls (XG Firewall), Wireless Protection is included in the base licence.

Availability

The SD-RED 20 and SD-RED 60 have officially been available since mid‑April, but due to the pandemic they were initially hard to get hold of – with a long waiting list of pre‑orders and some customers waiting up to six weeks for delivery. Availability has now returned to normal.

Summary

The new models are a strong upgrade over the already excellent RED series. The performance boost was absolutely necessary – a 90 Mbit/s RED 15 is tight for typical 2020 internet speeds. A five‑year warranty and dual power supplies add to the peace of mind and make the SD-RED a very compelling all‑round package from Sophos. It will be interesting to see how Sophos continues to develop SD-RED in future.

Further information

Patrizio

Patrizio

Patrizio is an experienced network specialist focused on Sophos firewalls, switches, and access points. He supports customers and IT teams with configuration, migration, and clean network segmentation.