Part I. Zoneranger And Ranger Gateway Overview; Chapter 1: Zone Ranger And Ranger Gateway Architecture - Tavve zoneranger User Manual

Part I. ZoneRanger and Ranger Gateway Overview

Chapter 1: Zone Ranger and Ranger Gateway Architecture

Introduction and Deployment Architecture
ZoneRanger is a hardware appliance that provides enterprises with a mechanism for extending the
reach of management applications into firewall-protected networks. ZoneRanger, working together
with the Ranger Gateway software component, serves as a proxy firewall for management traffic,
simultaneously enabling the flow of management traffic between applications and devices, and
inspecting/filtering the traffic in order to mitigate security risks.
ZoneRangers are typically installed in a network zones, such as a DMZ, where there are devices to
be managed that management applications are unable to reach due to firewall-based network
partitioning. The Ranger Gateway software component is typically installed on the same server as
the management application, and acts as the interface between the management application and one
or more ZoneRangers. Ranger Gateway functions as a transparent proxy, intercepting and relaying
management protocol traffic addressed for managed devices, so that the management application
can remain unaware that the Ranger Gateway and ZoneRanger are being used. As a result,
ZoneRanger and Ranger Gateway can be used with a wide variety of management applications.
A simple ZoneRanger configuration is illustrated in the following figure.
Figure 1-1. Simple ZoneRanger configuration
Note that the Ranger Gateway software is installed on the same server as the management
application (e.g. CiscoWorks), and that the ZoneRanger is installed in the remote network alongside
the managed devices. The Ranger Gateway and ZoneRanger communicate using a single SSL-
encrypted TCP connection. All management protocol traffic being proxied through the ZoneRanger
is multiplexed over this single connection, resulting in a dramatic reduction in firewall rules and
associated configuration effort.
ZoneRanger 5.5 User's Guide 8