Firewall Configuration

    Businesses use high-speed internet connections to connect offices, store data, and use cloud computing to manage customer relationships, billing, and office productivity. Many small businesses lack a robust firewall that can protect them from external threats resulting from these activities. Instead, they use the onboard firewall on their Windows PC coupled with the minimal protection offered by a residential-grade router. Such solutions do not offer much protection from sophisticated threats; however, it makes sense to upgrade to a true business-class firewall. For this discussion, you will assume the role of a network administrator for a small business. The business needs to install firewalls on its network. For your main post, describe how you will configure the rules of the firewall to allow the actions to occur seamlessly. Pick one of the following examples and explain how the rules need to be adjusted to allow users and the network to operate cohesively. The firewall prevented certain applications from working correctly over the internet. Users are blocked from specific websites due to the personal security settings on their computers. Users are unable to connect or access LAN devices or applications from the internet. Users are unable to play online games or view videos through modem routers. Program is unable to update or install correctly when prompted.

Sample Solution

     

Firewall prevented certain applications from working correctly over the internet.

To resolve this issue, we can create firewall rules to allow the specific applications that are being blocked. To do this, we will need to know the following information:

  • The name of the application
  • The port numbers that the application uses
  • The type of traffic that the application uses (inbound or outbound)

Full Answer Section

     

Once we have this information, we can create firewall rules to allow the application to access the internet. For example, if the application is a web browser, we would need to create firewall rules to allow the application to access the HTTP and HTTPS ports.

Users are blocked from specific websites due to the personal security settings on their computers.

To resolve this issue, we can configure the firewall to allow access to the specific websites that are being blocked. To do this, we will need to know the following information:

  • The URL of the website
  • The port numbers that the website uses
  • The type of traffic that the website uses (inbound or outbound)

Once we have this information, we can create firewall rules to allow access to the website. For example, if the website is Google, we would need to create firewall rules to allow access to the HTTP and HTTPS ports for that website.

Users are unable to connect or access LAN devices or applications from the internet.

To resolve this issue, we can configure the firewall to allow access to the specific LAN devices or applications that are being blocked. To do this, we will need to know the following information:

  • The IP address of the LAN device or application
  • The port numbers that the LAN device or application uses
  • The type of traffic that the LAN device or application uses (inbound or outbound)

Once we have this information, we can create firewall rules to allow access to the LAN device or application. For example, if the LAN device is a file server, we would need to create firewall rules to allow access to the SMB port for that device.

Users are unable to play online games or view videos through modem routers.

To resolve this issue, we can configure the firewall to allow access to the specific ports that are used by online games and video streaming services. To do this, we will need to know the following information:

  • The port numbers that are used by online games and video streaming services
  • The type of traffic that online games and video streaming services use (inbound or outbound)

Once we have this information, we can create firewall rules to allow access to the ports that are used by online games and video streaming services. For example, many online games use the UDP protocol, so we would need to create firewall rules to allow UDP traffic on the ports that are used by those games.

Program is unable to update or install correctly when prompted.

To resolve this issue, we can configure the firewall to allow access to the specific ports that are used by the program to update or install itself. To do this, we will need to know the following information:

  • The port numbers that are used by the program to update or install itself
  • The type of traffic that the program uses to update or install itself (inbound or outbound)

Once we have this information, we can create firewall rules to allow access to the ports that are used by the program to update or install itself. For example, many programs use the HTTP protocol to update themselves, so we would need to create firewall rules to allow HTTP traffic on the ports that are used by those programs.

Conclusion

When configuring firewall rules, it is important to be specific and to only allow the traffic that is necessary. This will help to protect the network from unauthorized access and malicious attacks.

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