What's in a Name?

Longstanding (and maybe even newer) customers will recognize that Netgate® has been gradually evolving its product naming.

As an example, a few years back, we had the SG-2440. To break down its product name meaning, ‘SG’ implied 1 Gbps interfaces (where XG implied 10 Gbps interfaces), and ‘2440’ was shorthand for 2 CPU cores, 4 GB RAM, and 4 NICs. There were other appliances with similar naming conventions.

Since the introduction of the SG-1000 back in mid-2016, we’ve dropped the ‘intelligent’ numbering in favor of a simple 4-digit number - one that only conveys the appliance’s logical standing within our overall appliance lineup. For example, the SG-1100 has less port/CPU/architecure sophistication than the SG-3100, which has less than the SG-5100, and so forth.

Now we are making a second change. In the coming days, you will see us drop the alpha prefixes altogether. Appliance naming will change as follows:

Ultimately these changes will propagate through our website, e-commerce site, documentation, etc.

Why are we doing this?

First, it’s a busy world, and we are all confronted with information overload. Simplification helps.

Second, the ‘network edge’, where most of our appliances are deployed, is evolving. Examples include:

• 10 Gbps network edge links are becoming commonplace around the world
• CPU/memory options continue to evolve in both performance and cost
• Both of the above make it more plausible for a growing number of appliances to support pfSense Plus and TNSR

We’re making a number of changes at Netgate in 2021. We will share each step of that progression so our customers - and broader audience at large - are as informed as possible. During this week, in particular, we’ll make several key announcements. This is just the first. We hope you’ll stay tuned to our blog!

As always, if you have questions, just reach out to us. We’re happy to catch up anytime!