Description
WatchGuard Firebox M690 High Availability Firewall
In a world where network speed, data protection, and business continuity are non-negotiable, the WatchGuard Firebox M690 High Availability Firewall stands out as a trusted backbone for midsize organizations and distributed enterprises. This appliance brings together robust security, enterprise-grade performance, and an intuitive management experience, all in a compact, scalable platform. Built for environments that demand constant uptime, the M690 is designed to withstand evolving cyber threats while delivering the reliability your business relies on. From small branch offices to multisite deployments, this firewall balances aggressive threat prevention with flexible deployment options, empowering IT teams to simplify administration without compromising protection. With a focus on ease of deployment and ongoing protection, the M690 helps you accelerate digital workflows, protect sensitive data, and ensure secure access for users, devices, and cloud applications across the enterprise.
- Uncompromising security with multilayer threat protection The M690 delivers a comprehensive security stack, combining stateful firewall capabilities, intrusion prevention, application control, malware protection, and URL filtering to prevent known and emerging threats before they reach users. It supports rapid security policy updates and centralized licensing so your team can enforce consistent rules across on-premises and remote sites. By integrating threat intelligence and security services into a single console, administrators gain visibility into network activity, identify risk patterns, and respond quickly to new attack techniques, all while reducing operational overhead.
- High availability for mission-critical networks In today’s business landscape, downtime costs more than maintenance. The M690 is engineered for high availability, offering redundant components and failover capabilities that keep critical services online during hardware maintenance or unexpected outages. With seamless failover between Firebox units, synchronized configurations, and centralized monitoring, IT teams can maintain consistent policy enforcement, session persistence, and user experience even as hardware or network conditions change. This capability is ideal for distributed enterprises, data centers, and branch networks that demand uptime alongside robust security.
- High-performance throughput to move more traffic The M690 delivers firewall throughput up to 29.7 Gbps, empowering organizations to support growing user counts, bandwidth-intensive cloud applications, video conferencing, and VPN traffic without bottlenecks. Beyond raw speed, this performance is complemented by streamlined packet processing, optimized threat detection pipelines, and smart caching that minimizes latency. This balance of speed and security ensures that legitimate business traffic flows freely, while malicious activity is halted at the perimeter or at the gateway. The result is predictable, scalable performance that aligns with today’s digital work environments.
- Flexible management and deployment The Firebox M690 is designed for flexible administration, offering centralized management through WatchGuard’s management tools and policies to enforce consistent security posture across multiple sites. IT teams can configure, monitor, and adjust firewall rules, VPN settings, and security services from a single console, reducing complexity in multisite deployments. The appliance supports a range of deployment models—from campus-wide edge security to distributed branch protection—so organizations can tailor their security architecture to fit unique network topologies while preserving policy consistency and simplified upgrades.
- Comprehensive security services and licenses To keep pace with evolving threats, the M690 supports a broad suite of security services, including VPN capabilities, centralized threat detection, and secure remote access. Licenses can be managed centrally, enabling rapid activation of features as your organization grows or as regulatory requirements change. With integrated reporting and analytics, administrators gain actionable insights into network health, threat activity, and policy effectiveness, helping teams demonstrate compliance and optimize defenses over time.
Technical Details of WatchGuard Firebox M690 High Availability Firewall
- Firewall Throughput: 29.7 Gbps
- UTM Throughput: class-leading for its segment
- High Availability: supports active/standby configurations and seamless failover
- Management: centralized configuration and policy control via WatchGuard tools for unified administration
- Target Use: ideal for midsize businesses and distributed enterprises seeking robust perimeter security with continuous uptime
How to install WatchGuard Firebox M690 High Availability Firewall
- Plan your deployment by mapping network segments, IP addressing, and optional high-availability pairing with a secondary Firebox to ensure continuous protection and uptime across sites.
- Prepare the hardware by mounting the unit in a suitable rack, connecting power supplies, and allocating management and data network interfaces according to your topology and security policy requirements.
- Access the management interface by connecting a laptop to the Firebox management port or a dedicated management network, then launching the configuration wizard to begin initial setup.
- Configure admin credentials, system time, licensing for security services, and baseline network settings, including interfaces, VLANs, routing, and basic security policies that establish a secure foundation for further hardening.
- Enable and pair High Availability with a second M690, synchronize configurations, test failover, and validate policy continuity so business operations stay uninterrupted even during maintenance or hardware failure.
Frequently asked questions
- Q: What makes the WatchGuard Firebox M690 High Availability Firewall suitable for midsize businesses? It combines high firewall throughput, integrated threat prevention, and scalable management in a single appliance, offering strong performance and reliable protection for networks with growing security needs.
- Q: Can the M690 protect multiple sites? Yes. Its flexible deployment and high-availability capabilities support distributed campuses and branch networks while maintaining consistent security policies.
- Q: What throughput should I expect? The Firebox M690 provides up to 29.7 Gbps of firewall throughput, enabling fast, secure data flows for users and applications in a modern network environment.
- Q: How do I manage licenses and security services? Licenses for security services, VPN, and other features are managed centrally through WatchGuard’s management tools, simplifying administration and ensuring policy uniformity across devices.
- Q: Is High Availability available out of the box? High Availability is a core capability of the Firebox M690, designed to deliver uptime, seamless failover, and consistent policy enforcement with paired units across locations.
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