A firewall and router distribution based on FreeBSD is frequently deployed within a simulated computing environment. This allows users to leverage its robust features without dedicated hardware, offering flexibility and cost-effectiveness. A common use case involves setting up a secure network perimeter for a home lab or testing network configurations before deployment in a production environment.
Emulating network appliances offers significant advantages, including reduced hardware costs, simplified maintenance, and increased portability. The ability to quickly clone, snapshot, and revert virtual machines simplifies testing and disaster recovery. Historically, dedicated hardware was required for such functionality, making experimentation and learning costly and complex. Virtualization has democratized access to advanced networking concepts and tools.
