Security; Autosensing Ethernet Connections With Auto Uplink - NETGEAR FVX538 - ProSafe VPN Firewall 200 Router Reference Manual

• With its URL keyword filtering feature, the FVX538 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 FVX538 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.
• DMZ port
Incoming traffic from the Internet is normally discarded by the firewall unless the traffic is a
response to one of your local computers or a service for which you have configured an
inbound rule. Instead of discarding this traffic, you can have it forwarded to one computer on
your network.

Autosensing Ethernet Connections with Auto Uplink

With its internal 8-port 10/100 switch, the FVX538 can connect to either a 10 Mbps standard
Ethernet network or a 100 Mbps Fast Ethernet network. Both the LAN and WAN interfaces are
autosensing and capable of full-duplex or half-duplex operation.
The firewall incorporates Auto Uplink
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.
Introduction
Reference Manual for the ProSafe VPN Firewall 200 FVX538
TM technology. Each Ethernet port will automatically sense
January 2005
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