Sophos Firewall Rev. 2: SG/XG hardware with more power

Sophos upgraded and redesigned the 1U models of the SG and XG series (SG/XG 210 - 450). Although some work has also been done on the packaging, the technical optimization is more important.

To be honest, we are already 2 months late with this news. By replacing our previous blog with new news page, we’re still working on updating our older news. Maybe there are still some other notifications that you didn’t know about yet.

Which models are affected?

New 1U models of the SG and XG series are on the market since September of 2017. Here is a brief overview of the updated models:

• New: XG/SG 210 Rev. 3 - Previous: XG/SG 210 Rev. 2
• New: XG/SG 230 Rev. 2 - Previous: XG/SG 230 Rev. 1
• New: XG/SG 310 Rev. 2 - Previous: XG/SG 310 Rev. 1
• New: XG/SG 330 Rev. 2 - Previous: XG/SG 330 Rev. 1
• New: XG/SG 430 Rev. 2 - Previous: XG/SG 430 Rev. 1
• New: XG/SG 450 Rev. 2 - Previous: XG/SG 450 Rev. 1

If you ordered such hardware from us in the shop since September, you already received the revision 2 of the devices. Even if we are just now publishing a new article about it and haven’t mentioned any details about Revision 2 on our shop, we still send out the latest hardware.

The XG and SG series are still identical 1:1. Preinstalled operating system is the only difference you can find. UTM operating system runs on the SG, while the XG is delivered with the SFOS. But the new SFOS can also be installed and operated on an SG. We described the steps in this tutorial: Install Sophos XG Firewall on an SG appliance

What’s new?

Apart from a small redesign of the appliance and new “unboxing experience”, there are important technical improvements that make the difference.

• Latest processor generation from Intel installed (Skylake), which means ~ 20% better performance.
• Antique VGA connection is replaced by an HDMI connection.
• Serial interface (RS232) is replaced by a micro USB connector.
• Small display on the SG/XG is no longer orange, but blue.
• 4xx series now supports remote maintenance via IPMI.
• New module with 2x 40GE QSFP +
• New 4-port and 8-port modules with PoE support.
• New power supplies are equipped with a 48V connection that enables each 1U appliance to be operated with a redundant power supply

Price stays the same. 😄

Important: HA clusters only work with the same revision. For example, if anyone has an XG 230 Rev. 1, cannot use an XG 230 Rev. 2 for HA cluster.

More information

• Datasheet: Sophos XG Firewall