Comprehensive and Detailed In-Depth Step-by-Step Explanation:Both Cloud NGFW for Azure and VM-Series firewalls are Palo Alto Networks solutions designed to secure cloud and virtualized environments, but they share specific capabilities as outlined in the Palo Alto Networks Systems Engineer Professional - Software Firewall documentation.
Using NGFW credits to deploy the firewall (Option A): Both Cloud NGFW for Azure and VM-Series firewalls can be deployed using Palo Alto Networks’ NGFW credit-based flexible licensing model. This allows customers to allocate credits from a credit pool to deploy and manage these firewalls in Azure, providing flexibility and cost efficiency without requiring separate licenses for each instance. The documentation emphasizes this as a shared licensing approach for software firewalls in cloud environments.
Securing inbound, outbound, and lateral traffic (Option D): Both solutions provide comprehensive traffic protection, including inbound (external to internal), outbound (internal to external), and lateral (east-west) traffic within the cloud environment. This is a core capability of both Cloud NGFW for Azure, which uses a distributed architecture, and VM-Series, which can be configured for similar traffic flows in virtualized or cloud settings, ensuring full visibility and control over all network traffic.
Options B (Securing public and private datacenter traffic) and C (Performing firewall administration using Azure Firewall Manager) are incorrect. While both firewalls can secure traffic, they are primarily designed for cloud environments, not explicitly for public and private datacenter traffic as a shared capability. Azure Firewall Manager is a native Azure tool and does not manage Palo Alto Networks Cloud NGFW or VM-Series firewalls, making Option C inaccurate for this context.
References: Palo Alto Networks Systems Engineer Professional - Software Firewall, Section: Cloud NGFW and VM-Series Deployment, Flexible Licensing Documentation, Traffic Security and Policy Enforcement Guide for Azure and VM-Series.
