WAN Firewall
The explosive growth of Internet and Wide Area Network (WAN) based applications has brought in the need for enhanced and reliable network performance. With businesses big and small conducting their business operations online, there comes an indispensable need for security over the network. Data security is a high priority due to the sensitivity of the information that is being transferred across the Internet. There are several methods that have been developed over the years to monitor and control the influx of data into internal networks known as Local Area Networks (LANs). One such well-known method is the use of a WAN Firewall, which filters incoming IP traffic.
A Firewall acts as a selective gateway in between the Wide Area Network and an organizations’ internal network. A Firewall is a dedicated appliance, which can be configured to permit, deny, encrypt, or proxy the entire network traffic among varied security domains. This function is based on a set of rules and criteria. Firewalls can be implemented as hardware or software, and even a combination of both. WAN Firewall prevents unauthorized access into private networks that are connected to the Internet. Any data entering or leaving the Internet has to pass through the firewall, which scrutinizes the entire data. Information that does not match the specified security criteria is efficiently blocked by the WAN Firewalls.
Living on the edge of information revolution, companies seek to secure their networks in order to carry on reliable business operations. Many companies separate their organizations’ internal networks from outside networks by positioning a firewall in between both networks. In network security, WAN Firewalls are crucial components that are deployed to ensure maximum network security. The basic task of a Wide Area Network firewall is regulating data traffic flow between networks of different trust levels. It inspects network traffic and channels them to the appropriate destination based on the defined protocols. Firewall WAN mechanism enables monitoring and controlling data flow, both inbound and outbound. It is a security point that shields critical data/resources from the intrusions of unreliable sources.
WAN Firewalls are advantageous over the fact that they can be configured to obstruct the entry of specific data into an internal network, and give administrators the benefit of controlling the inflow of data from a centralized point.
The security levels that are provided by WAN Firewalls are packet filtering, application-level gateways, circuit-level gateways, and proxy servers. In application, two or more of these Firewall technologies are used together. Owing to the complexity and numerous criteria of Firewall WAN technologies, many users find difficulty in gaining maximum benefit out of it.
The packet filtering technique is where all inbound and outbound data packets are accepted or rejected based on user-defined criteria. It is quite effective and transparent. However, it is hard to configure and is also susceptible to IP spoofing. The application-level gateway technique of WAN Firewalls implements security measures to particular applications (for instance, FTP and Telnet servers). Although this is a great method, still there is the problem of degradation in performance. The security mechanism is implemented and establishes connectivity using a TCP or UDP in circuit-level gateway method. The Proxy server checks all the messages traveling back and forth on the network. It conceals the correct network addresses, thereby guaranteeing security. Other common Firewall WAN technologies include network address translation, port address translation and application protocol filtering. The functionality of the firewall provides LAN security as sometimes Internet/WAN failover capability.
Large companies are now dependent on technology to sustain them in the competitive marketplace. Business continuity is an inherent part of today’s business world and ensuring the same necessitates a robust Wide Area Network infrastructure and secure Internet/WAN connectivity. Multiple WAN Port Firewalls are employed by an organization to provide maximum security to the critical data that is shared over the network. A multiple WAN Port Firewall is looked upon as a strategic measure towards securing the network, thereby making it reliable by increasing bandwidth and providing line failover capabilities. Multi-WAN Port Firewall and Dual WAN Port Firewall are used widely in spite of its complex structure and limitations. Dual-WAN Firewalls cannot load balance incoming traffic in a redundant failover manner. Dual WAN Firewalls usually can only combine lines of the same type.
Technological progression has resulted in more advanced appliances and features to enhance the network infrastructure of businesses. FatPipe Networks, the provider of unique flexible solutions for WAN optimization, bandwidth management, reliability, and security, has emerged as a pioneer in this field.
With its Enterprise-class solutions, FatPipe has become a proven technology much depended upon by businesses of all types. FatPipe can take multiple Wide Area Network connections and load balance outbound and inbound traffic across all the connections using patented MPSec technology. This technology is totally ISP and dataline agnostic. Load balancing and automatic failover capabilities strengthen the WAN infrastructure and increase the efficiency of WANs. Traffic prioritization and bandwidth management is possible using the unique Quality of Service (QoS) module available in FatPipe technology. FatPipe can also run VPN, enabling site-to-site secure VPN connectivity between offices, and VPN connectivity for mobile users (aka: Road Warriors) using Remote VPN connectivity tools. Businesses are growing fiercely with the advent of networks, and business continuity is their prime focus. Establishing this goal is made possible by leaders in technology such as FatPipe.
