MILPITAS, Calif. — May 12, 2026 — SonicWall today announced the availability of the Gen 8 NSv XS, a subscription-based virtual firewall purpose-built for MSPs and MSSPs delivering managed security to small and distributed environments. For the first time, partners can deliver the same Gen 8 protection inside virtualized environments that they've been delivering at the physical perimeter at a price point built for recurring revenue.

The timing reflects an urgent market reality. SonicWall's 2026 Cyber Protect Report found that high and medium severity attacks surged 20.8% last year not because attackers struck more often, but because they struck smarter. With 52% of enterprises now running the majority of their infrastructure in the cloud, perimeter-only security leaves a critical gap. NSv XS closes it.

"Cloud adoption didn't wait for security to catch up and neither did the attackers,” said Chandro Prasad, SonicWall Chief Product Officer. “NSv XS extends our Gen 8 platform into the cloud and hypervisor environments for the first time, closing the inspection gap that perimeter-only security leaves behind. Paired with SonicOS 8.2.1 and purpose-built subscription tiers, it gives partners everything they need to build a managed virtual firewall practice without adding complexity or cost."

Protection That Performs Where It's Needed Most

The NSv XS is built for the environments MSPs actually manage: small offices, micro-SMB customers, and distributed branch locations. And while it's right-sized for those deployments, it doesn't compromise on protection.

Compared to its predecessor, the NSv XS delivers significant performance improvements across every key metric. Threat prevention throughput nearly doubles, VPN Throughput was 780 Mbps vs 500 Mbps (NSv 10), and encrypted traffic inspection capacity increases eightfold, giving partners the headroom to protect growing workloads without outgrowing the platform.

High availability is included as standard, with no additional licensing required, and NSv XS is the first SonicWall virtual firewall to ship with embedded cyber warranty coverage through Cysurance, giving partners and their customers an added layer of financial protection from day one.

Deployment flexibility is equally broad. NSv XS runs across VMware ESXi, Hyper-V, KVM, AWS, Azure, and Proxmox, delivering one of the broadest deployment environments in its class. The inclusion of Proxmox is deliberate: as the fastest-growing open-source hypervisor platform, it reflects where MSP infrastructure decisions are heading. SonicWall built NSv XS for that future, not the one from five years ago.

Built for the Way MSPs Do Business

NSv XS is available in three subscription tiers, each designed to match how MSPs build and price their services.

The entry tier, Secure Connect, covers core firewall protection and high availability with centralised management. The Advanced Protection Security Suite (APSS) adds full-stack threat prevention and cloud management, with up to $100K in embedded cyber warranty coverage. The Managed Protection Security Suite (MPSS) goes further, adding co-managed security from the SonicSentry NOC team, after-hours critical support, and up to $200K in warranty coverage, so partners can expand their managed security practice without expanding their headcount.

All three tiers extend across the NSv S, M, and L form factors, meaning partners can standardize on a single service delivery model and scale it as customer environments grow.

A Smarter Platform Across the Board

Alongside NSv XS, SonicWall is releasing SonicOS 8.2.1 and NSM 4.0, updates that make the full Gen 8 portfolio easier to manage and more intelligent.

SonicOS 8.2.1 introduces automated blocking of compromised IPs, improved encrypted traffic transport, smarter traffic routing via SD-WAN, and always-on encrypted traffic inspection for larger deployments. NSM 4.0 adds simplified VPN policy management, built-in compliance checks, and enhanced reporting, reducing the operational burden of running firewall services at scale.

Available Now

The Gen 8 NSv XS, SonicOS 8.2.1, and NSM 4.0 are available today through SonicWall's global partner network, on monthly or annual subscription terms with no minimums and no commitments required.

For more information, visit www.sonicwall.com.

About SonicWall
For more than 30 years, SonicWall has championed a partner-first model that combines purpose-built technology, cloud-delivered security services and real-time threat intelligence to help businesses prevent breaches, reduce risk and stay operational in the face of evolving modern threats. We are committed to deliver the best security outcomes for our customers where others deliver features and functions. Through its unified cybersecurity portfolio and global community of over 17,000 partners, SonicWall enables managed service providers to actively manage, continuously optimize and measurably protect networks, cloud environments, endpoints and applications. The company is redefining cybersecurity around outcomes that matter to business leaders, including breach prevention, compliance achievement, cost efficiency and reduced human error, because protection is not about what a product can do but about what it actually delivers.