SonicWall's network security appliances conduct deep packet inspection and provide real-time gateway capabilities for protection from viruses, spyware, spam, Trojans and phishing attacks.

The application control features give an administrator the ability to stop the use of peer-to-peer and instant messaging applications. The appliance also addresses security for VoIP communications, supporting SIP proxies, H.323 gatekeepers and call servers.

The appliances use multiple cores to increase performance when conducting inspections.

SonicWall also offers several ways to deploy the appliances based on the organization's preferences, with each configuration having a different impact on performance.

Desktop and server protection features address security by adding antivirus and antispyware protection for workstations and servers. The software will restrict Internet access on endpoints that do not have the latest signature or updates.