NETGEAR ProSafe FVS124G - Manual (Page 21)

Reference Manual for the ProSafe VPN Firewall 25 with 4 Gigabit LAN and Dual WAN Ports
Introduction 2-3
202-10085-01, March 2005
• With its URL keyword filtering feature, the FVS124G prevents objectionable content from
reaching your PCs. The firewall allows you to control access to Internet content by screening
for keywords within Web addresses. You can configure the firewall to log and report attempts
to access objectionable Internet sites.
Security
The FVS124G VPN Firewall is equipped with several features designed to maintain security, as
described in this section.
• PCs Hidden by NAT
NAT opens a temporary path to the Internet for requests originating from the local network.
Requests originating from outside the LAN are discarded, preventing users outside the LAN
from finding and directly accessing the PCs on the LAN.
• Port Forwarding with NAT
Although NAT prevents Internet locations from directly accessing the PCs on the LAN, the
firewall allows you to direct incoming traffic to specific PCs based on the service port number
of the incoming request. You can specify forwarding of single ports or ranges of ports.
• Powerful Firewall Rules
Both inbound and outbound traffic can be controlled tightly by defining your own rules
regarding permitted users, services, protocols, schedules, and destinations.
Autosensing Ethernet Connections with Auto Uplink
With its internal 4-port 10/100/1000 switch, the FVS124G can connect to either a 10 Mbps
standard Ethernet network, a 100 Mbps Fast Ethernet network, or a 1000 Mbps Gigabit Ethernet.
Both the LAN and WAN interfaces are autosensing and capable of full-duplex or half-duplex
operation.
The firewall incorporates Auto Uplink TM technology. Each Ethernet port will automatically sense
whether the Ethernet cable plugged into the port should have a ‘normal’ connection such as to a
PC or an ‘uplink’ connection such as to a switch or hub. That port will then configure itself to the
correct configuration. This feature also eliminates the need to worry about crossover cables, as
Auto Uplink will accommodate either type of cable to make the right connection.