If you’re the network guardian of a large organization. Suddenly, suspicious traffic floods in from multiple countries. Traditional firewalls see only IPs and ports, but you need to know which user, which app, and what data is moving.
That’s where Palo Alto Networks steps in, redefining how firewalls secure our connected world.

In 2025, cybersecurity is no longer optional — it’s a career superpower. Businesses worldwide are searching for professionals who can deploy and manage Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFWs), and Palo Alto sits at the top of that list.

If you’re looking to build a rock-solid foundation in network security, the Palo Alto Networks Firewall Course is your gateway. The first class of this course serves as a perfect orientation — explaining how the program works, how labs are structured, and how Palo Alto’s SP3 architecture powers one of the most advanced firewalls on the planet.

Course Logistics & Communication – How the Training Will Run

“Firewall Lab Access & Virtual Racks” | “Palo Alto Course Setup”

• The instructor will set up a dedicated WhatsApp group to distribute class documents, lab instructions, Q&A threads, and announcements. Email updates were founto be d less efficient, so real-time messaging is preferred.

• After each class/topic, students will receive PDFs including slides, step‐by‐step lab instructions, and common Q&A or troubleshooting notes.

• Virtual lab racks will be provided: specifically, VM-Series virtual firewall images hosted in a virtualization environment. Credentials and a Rack URL will be shared at the start.

• The lab work uses VM-Series firewalls (virtual machines) rather than physical chassis—this makes hands-on exercises easier, more flexible, and cost-effective.

• While the centralized management tool Panorama will be covered, many labs will focus on direct access to individual firewalls (due to licensing/complexity), so students get hands-on quickly.

Audience Background & Who Should Attend

“Firewall Training for Network Engineers” | “Who Should Enroll Palo Alto Course”

The training is ideal for participants who already have a foundation in networking (routing & switching) and some exposure to security teams.

• Students in the class introduced their backgrounds: many had Cisco routing/switching experience, security operations team experience, but limited hands-on experience with Palo Alto firewalls.

• The course is suited for: network engineers, security engineers, IT professionals wanting to upskill into firewall administration, or engineers making the move into network security.

Palo Alto Networks Product Flavours – Understanding the Firewall Family

“Palo Alto VM-Series vs PA-Series” | “Palo Alto CN-Series & Cloud Security”

In the orientation, the instructor provided a brief overview of Palo Alto’s product portfolio:

• Physical NGFWs (PA-Series) — appliance/hardware models (e.g., PA-7000 series, PA-5400, PA-3200) used in enterprise and data-center environments.

• VM-Series — virtualised next-generation firewall (NGFW) images for hypervisors or cloud marketplaces (AWS, Azure). Labs will use these.

• CN-Series — container-native firewalls for Kubernetes/micro-services environments (cloud-native app security).

• Cloud-Delivered Security Services (CDSS) — services like Wild Fire (sandboxing), DNS Security, URL Filtering, Prisma Access, Global Protect (VPN), Autofocus, etc. These often work via subscriptions/licensing.

• Panorama — centralised management appliance/software that can manage multiple firewalls, push configurations and policies across devices.

Licensing and subscriptions will be required for some services and features. The course will focus on core firewall configuration and features rather than deep licensing management.

What Makes a Firewall “Next-Generation” (NGFW)?

“NGFW Features App-ID User-ID Content-ID” | “Palo Alto NGFW Explained”

Traditional firewalls operate mostly at Layer 3/Layer 4 (IP, ports, protocols). Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFWs) go deeper, operating at Layer 7 (application) and integrating user/context awareness. Key NGFW features include:

• App-ID: Identifies applications regardless of port or protocol (so you can apply policy by “YouTube” rather than port 443).

• User-ID: Associates network traffic with actual user identities (via Active Directory, LDAP, etc) so policies can be user-based, not just IP-based.

• Content-ID: Provides advanced threat prevention: antivirus, anti‐spyware, intrusion prevention (IPS), sandboxing of files and attachments, URL filtering.

• SSL/SSH Decryption: Because much traffic is encrypted, NGFWs must decrypt, inspect, and re‐encrypt with minimal latency.

• Granular Policy Control: Policies can combine application, user, and content (who, what, how) rather than just “source IP to destination port”.

These capabilities enable more intelligent, context-aware security enforcement — which is why the course emphasised understanding these features early.

Key Lab Plan – First Hands-On Session

Palo Alto Firewall Lab Setup” | “VM-Series Connectivity Lab"

The first lab is designed to get students comfortable with the interface and basic configuration. The plan includes:

• Accessing the firewall GUI and CLI via the management interface (connect a PC to the firewall’s management port, verify ping/web login).

• Learning minimum commands in CLI/GUI to navigate and configure.

• Configuring basic network setup: interfaces (management, trust, untrust), security zones (LAN and Internet), NAT rules (allow internal PC to access Internet), and security policies to permit traffic.

• Ensuring one LAN PC can reach the Internet through the VM-Series firewall. The trainer will supply step-by-step lab guides, screenshots, and sample configs. Students are reminded not to delete trainer assets in the lab environment.

Hands-on labs reinforce theory and build real skill — not just reading slides but doing.

Networking Concepts Refresher – Control Plane vs Data Plane

“Control Plane vs Data Plane Palo Alto” | “Firewall Architecture SP3 Explained”

During the class, the instructor reviewed some critical networking concepts relevant to firewall architecture:

• Control Plane — The part of the firewall that handles management/configuration tasks, routing decisions, logging controls, and configuration changes. Example: selecting the best route, building a routing table.

• Data Plane — The part of the firewall that processes actual traffic: packet forwarding, NAT, intrusion prevention, firewall policy enforcement, session handliandcand content inspection.

• Example: The routing decision is a control-plane activity; once the route is chosen, forwarding packets and applying policies is a data-plane activity.

Understanding the distinction helps when troubleshooting, optimising performance, or designing firewall deployments.

Palo Alto Architecture: SP3 (Single Pass Parallel Processing)

“SP3 Architecture Palo Alto” | “Single-Pass Parallel Processing Firewall”

A major highlight of the orientation was positioning Palo Alto’s core architecture, SP3 (Single Pass Parallel Processing). Here’s what it means:

• Single Pass: Each packet is processed only once through the policy engine — all security functions (App-ID, User-ID, Content-ID, NAT, IPS) are evaluated during the same pass.

• Parallel Processing: Different processing functions (network routing/forwarding, security inspection, content analysis) occur simultaneously using dedicated resources rather than sequentially.

• Benefits include:

  • Lower latency and higher throughput since packets don’t traverse multiple sequential inspection stages.

  • Lower CPU overhead and more scalability when doing Layer 7 inspection or SSL decryption.

  • Separation of management/control plane from data-plane activity so logging or management load doesn’t impact packet forwarding.

The instructor compared this to some vendor approaches where packets may traverse multiple sequential modules (eg, first routing, then IPS, then URL filtering) — which increases overhead. SP3 provides efficiency and performance.

High Availability (HA) & Clustering – What’s Coming Later

“Palo Alto HA Active Passive Active Active” | “Firewall Failover Configuration”

While not deeply covered in the first class, the instructor introduced the concept of high-availability (HA) within Palo Alto firewalls:

• HA uses multiple links (HA1, HA2, HA3) for control-plane heartbeat, configuration sync, session sync/failover.

• Supports active/passive and active/active deployment models.

Ensures that if one firewall fails, a peer takes over seamlessly with minimal disruption to sessions. This topic will be covered in future lab sessions.

Course Scope & Focus Areas – What Will You Learn?

“Palo Alto NGFW Course Curriculum” | “Firewall Configuration and Policy Management”

Across the entire course, you’ll gain hands-on experience with:

• Using VM-Series Palo Alto firewalls in virtual/cloud environments.

• Configuring App-ID, User-ID, Content-ID, URL Filtering, and SSL/SSH decryption.

• Creating NAT rules, security zones, policies to allow/deny traffic, and enabling Internet access for LAN users.

• Managing devices via Panorama (centralised management) – basics of pushing policies, aggregating logs.

• Configuring GlobalProtect VPN or other common services.

• Getting a conceptual overview of CN-Series container firewalls for cloud-native workloads.

• Hands-on labs with real-world style tasks rather than theoretical only.

You will finish the course with practical skills to design, configure, and manage next-generation firewalls — not just know the features but use them.

Practical Takeaways & Why This Orientation Matters

“Why Learn Palo Alto Firewall Administration” | “Firewall Career Path Networking Security”

• The first class helped you understand how the training will run (lab access, communication channels, expectations).

• You’ve seen why this firewall training matters: network security is shifting to application/user context rather than just IP/port.

• You now grasp the underlying architecture (SP3), which gives you an edge when configuring or troubleshooting performance issues.

• You’ll soon practice hands-on in labs — building familiarity with the GUI, CLI, and real configuration tasks.

By understanding the product flavours (PA-Series, VM-Series, CN-Series, Panorama), you’re aware of deployment options and career paths: cloud, virtual, container, and on-premise.

About Network Kings – Your Online Training Platform

“Network Kings Online IT Training” | “Networking Certification Courses India”

Network Kings is an online ed-tech platform that specialises in networking, cybersecurity, cloud, and DevOps training. Founded originally from a YouTube channel, it has grown into a community with 300,000+ learners and provides live interactive batches, virtual labs, self-paced content, and career support Network King.

 Some key highlights:

• Courses like the Network Engineer Master Program (NEMP) cover CCNA, Palo Alto firewall, and  CCNP ENARSI in one curriculum. Network Kings

• They offer Access Passes, giving access to multiple premium courses across Networking, Cybersecurity, and Cloud. join.nwkings.com

Provides 24×7 virtual labs, 1:1 doubt sessions, and mentors with real-world experience. If you are serious about acquiring industry-relevant certification and hands-on skills (such as Palo Alto firewall administration), Network Kings is a viable platform to consider — especially if you prefer structured live courses and labs.

Conclusion – The Journey Ahead

The orientation for this Palo Alto Networks firewall course laid a strong foundation: you now know how the training is structured, what you’ll learn, the lab environment you’ll work in, and the architecture and product set of the firewall vendor.

As you move into hands-on labs, you’ll transition from theoretical understanding to practical competence, configuring interfaces, security zones, NAT, policies, applying App-ID & User-ID, working with virtual firewalls, and learning to manage real-world firewall deployments.

For those interested in expanding further — building a career in network security, firewalls, cloud security, and certification readiness — leveraging a platform like Network Kings can accelerate your progress, particularly when combined with the lab experience and technical focus of this course.

By the end of the program, you’ll be prepared not just to pass an exam, but to design, deploy, and manage next-generation firewall infrastructure — a highly in-demand skill set in today’s network security landscape.