Netgear released a new firewall through the channel today that aims to give SMBs more robust and affordable protection at Gigabit LAN speeds.

The new ProSafe 8-port VPN firewall offers remote access for small businesses with 10 or fewer users that is embedded with business-class network security. The IPsec VPN device comes equipped with eight gigabit LAN ports and a single gigabit WAN port, which sport up to a 25 megabit per second throughput.

Netgear believes the key selling point to the model will be the software-configurable hardware DMZ port for server and other externally facing connections, a feature that Jason Leung, senior product line manager for security at Netgear, says “push(es) the boundary of what’s considered ‘standard’ security fare for small businesses.”

Typically only found on expensive enterprise-class firewalls, the DMZ feature will be offered at the ProSafe’s $139 price point. The DMZ port can be controlled via a user-friendly GUI, giving small business administrators or service providers the ability to block off the majority of the network when linking external-facing equipment to the business’s internal resources. This can offer VARs a cheap and easy way to segment the network within small businesses that may still need to comply with regulations such as PCI DSS.

Compatible with Windows, UNIX, Macintosh and Linux OS environments, the ProSafe is designed with ease-of-use in mind. Auto detect functionality and a streamlined user interface via the Web-based ProSafe Control Center aids configuration, as does the included IPsec VPN wizard, which automates IPsec VPN configuration for multiple site connections.

This latest Netgear release is yet another example of the company’s push this year to appeal to the SMB security market. In January the company announced a partnership with Kaspersky Lab to help it create what it called “VAR-focused” threat management appliances for the SMB.