Net Firewall - A Brief Overview Of Net Firewalls

By now, most computer users have at least heard about firewalls and have a basic understanding of what they are meant to do

. Whether or not they actually use one, well that's another story. Firewalls can be found in either hardware or software form. They are installed for the sole purpose of allowing only those who are authorized to access a network, while keeping out those who are not authorized. In today's computer world, most are used to keep those who are on the Internet from gaining unauthorized access to a private computer network. All have the same purpose in mind but there are different types and each one reaches that goal in a different way.

The most popular kind is a net firewall, a shortened term for network layer firewall. This is sometimes referred to as a packet filter, because that is precisely what it does. This type of filter operates at the most basic computing level possible; the network layer. They merely look at every packet, which is simply a bit of data that is traveling across a computer network, and determine whether or not it meets a certain criteria. The criteria packets must meet are a set of security based rules that can be setup by a network administrator or left on a default setting.

There are two different kinds of net firewalls out there. One is called a stateful packet inspection and the other is a stateless packet inspection. The stateful packet inspection firewall keeps information on hand about an active session and will use that information in order to quicken the pace at which packets are being passed through the system. If a packet of data does not match up with already existing connection, then is evaluated further to see if it meets the security requirements for a new connection. If a packet of data does match up with an already existing connection, then it can go through without any further analysis.

The other category is the stateless packet inspection firewall. This type uses less memory and simply utilizes a packet filter to do the inspection, so it is faster since it takes much less time than stateful packet inspection. All of the various kinds of firewalls can provide protection from unauthorized users gaining access to a private network. Some are just more costly than others, while other firewalls may take longer to setup and be more difficult to maintain.

by: Troy Truman

POST COMMENT

A General Overview on Holistic Massage Hythe