D-Link DFL-2560 Product Manual - Page 19

NetDefendOS Architecture, 1.2.1. State-based Architecture, 1.2.2. NetDefendOS Building Blocks

Page 19 highlights

1.2. NetDefendOS Architecture Chapter 1. NetDefendOS Overview 1.2. NetDefendOS Architecture 1.2.1. State-based Architecture The NetDefendOS architecture is centered around the concept of state-based connections. Traditional IP routers or switches commonly inspect all packets and then perform forwarding decisions based on information found in the packet headers. With this approach, packets are forwarded without any sense of context which eliminates any possibility to detect and analyze complex protocols and enforce corresponding security policies. Stateful Inspection NetDefendOS employs a technique called stateful inspection which means that it inspects and forwards traffic on a per-connection basis. NetDefendOS detects when a new connection is being established, and keeps a small piece of information or state in its state table for the lifetime of that connection. By doing this, NetDefendOS is able to understand the context of the network traffic which enables it to perform in-depth traffic scanning, apply bandwidth management and a variety of other functions. The stateful inspection approach additionally provides high throughput performance with the added advantage of a design that is highly scalable. The NetDefendOS subsystem that implements stateful inspection will sometimes be referred to in documentation as the NetDefendOS state-engine. 1.2.2. NetDefendOS Building Blocks The basic building blocks in NetDefendOS are interfaces, logical objects and various types of rules (or rule sets). Interfaces Interfaces are the doorways through which network traffic enters or leaves the NetDefend Firewall. Without interfaces, a NetDefendOS system has no means for receiving or sending traffic. The following types of interface are supported in NetDefendOS: • Physical interfaces - These correspond to the actual physical Ethernet ports. • Sub-interfaces - These include VLAN and PPPoE interfaces. • Tunnel interfaces - Used for receiving and sending traffic through VPN tunnels. Interface Symmetry The NetDefendOS interface design is symmetric, meaning that the interfaces of the device are not fixed as being on the "insecure outside" or "secure inside" of a network topology. The notion of what is inside and outside is totally for the administrator to define. Logical Objects Logical objects can be seen as predefined building blocks for use by the rule sets. The address book, for instance, contains named objects representing host and network addresses. Another example of logical objects are services which represent specific protocol and port combinations. Also important are the Application Layer Gateway (ALG) objects which are used to define additional parameters on specific protocols such as HTTP, FTP, SMTP and H.323. 19

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1.2. NetDefendOS Architecture
1.2.1. State-based Architecture
The
NetDefendOS
architecture
is
centered
around
the
concept
of
state-based
connections.
Traditional IP routers or switches commonly inspect all packets and then perform forwarding
decisions based on information found in the packet headers. With this approach, packets are
forwarded without any sense of context which eliminates any possibility to detect and analyze
complex protocols and enforce corresponding security policies.
Stateful Inspection
NetDefendOS employs a technique called
stateful inspection
which means that it inspects and
forwards traffic on a per-connection basis. NetDefendOS detects when a new connection is being
established, and keeps a small piece of information or
state
in its
state table
for the lifetime of that
connection. By doing this, NetDefendOS is able to understand the context of the network traffic
which enables it to perform in-depth traffic scanning, apply bandwidth management and a variety of
other functions.
The stateful inspection approach additionally provides high throughput performance with the added
advantage of a design that is highly scalable. The NetDefendOS subsystem that implements stateful
inspection will sometimes be referred to in documentation as the NetDefendOS
state-engine
.
1.2.2. NetDefendOS Building Blocks
The basic building blocks in NetDefendOS are interfaces, logical objects and various types of rules
(or rule sets).
Interfaces
Interfaces
are the doorways through which network traffic enters or leaves the NetDefend Firewall.
Without interfaces, a NetDefendOS system has no means for receiving or sending traffic.
The following types of interface are supported in NetDefendOS:
Physical interfaces
- These correspond to the actual physical Ethernet ports.
Sub-interfaces
- These include VLAN and PPPoE interfaces.
Tunnel interfaces
- Used for receiving and sending traffic through VPN tunnels.
Interface Symmetry
The NetDefendOS interface design is symmetric, meaning that the interfaces of the device are not
fixed as being on the "insecure outside" or "secure inside" of a network topology. The notion of
what is inside and outside is totally for the administrator to define.
Logical Objects
Logical objects
can be seen as predefined building blocks for use by the rule sets. The address book,
for instance, contains named objects representing host and network addresses.
Another example of logical objects are services which represent specific protocol and port
combinations. Also important are the Application Layer Gateway (ALG) objects which are used to
define additional parameters on specific protocols such as HTTP, FTP, SMTP and H.323.
1.2. NetDefendOS Architecture
Chapter 1. NetDefendOS Overview
19