Symantec 10521146 - Network Security 7120 Administration Manual page 38

38 Architecture
About management and detection architecture
The appliance provides all the functionality of a Network Security software
node, with additional capabilities in the areas of detection, response, and
management.
This section describes the following topics:
About detection on the 7100 Series
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About response on the 7100 Series
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About management on the 7100 Series
■
About detection on the 7100 Series
In addition to the detection facilities of Symantec Network Security software,
the 7100 Series appliance provides a new detection feature called interface
grouping.
About interface grouping
Interface grouping, also called port clustering, enables up to four monitoring
interfaces to be grouped together as a single logical interface. This is especially
useful in asymmetrically routed environments, where incoming traffic is seen
on one interface and outbound traffic passes through another. Grouping the
interfaces into one logical interface with a single sensor allows state to be
maintained during the session, making it possible to detect attacks.
About response on the 7100 Series
An important new 7100 Series response capability is provided by the addition of
in-line monitoring mode.
About in-line monitoring mode
In-line monitoring mode places the full capabilities of the Symantec Network
Security 7100 Series directly into the network path, enabling you to detect and
block malicious traffic before it enters your network. With an active sensor
monitoring traffic on an in-line interface pair, all packets are examined in real
time so that you can prevent intrusions from reaching their targets. By
comparison, passive mode supplies monitoring, alerting, and response
capabilities, while in-line mode provides all these plus proactive intrusion
prevention.
About blocking or alerting mode
In-line mode protection policies are configurable so that you can choose to block
and alert on designated events. You can easily switch between blocking and
alerting in the Network Security console.