DETAILED DESCRIPTION FIG.
1 shows a system on which the firewall method may be applied.
An enterprise includes an internal network 30, such as a wide area network (WAN), 30 having computer terminals 40, such as personal computers 40, or other internal hosts 40 that access the Internet 20 or other global computer network 20, through a firewall at the boundary of the internal network 30.
The internal host 40 may connect to an external host by various types of communications protocols, including conventional transmission control protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP).
As used herein, an internal host 40 refers to any device connected to the internal network 30 that connects to an external network 20 through the firewall cluster 10.
In the example of FIG.
1, the firewall consists of multiple firewall devices 12, 14, 16, 18 referred to collectively as a firewall cluster 10.
The firewall devices 12, 14, 16, 18 are interconnected by the network 30, and it is possible for a single internal host 40 to access the Internet 20 through more than one firewall device 12, 14, 16, 18.
For example, the network 30 may have multiple sub-HP networks 32, 34, 36, such as the local area networks (LANS) 32, 34, 36 shown in FIG.
1.
These sub-networks 32, 34, 36 may be geographically separated, in which case it may be desirable to have separate firewall devices 12, 14, 16, 18 for each sub-network 32, 34, 36.
In the example shown, even a sub-network 34 that is geographically contained, such as the LAN 34, might have more than one firewall device 14, 16.
FIG.
2 shows the method 100 used to process packets of information transferred between an internal host 40 and an external network 20 through the firewall cluster 10.
As used herein, a packet refers to any data element capable of being transferred through a firewall between an internal network 30 and an external network 20.
In use, a particular internal host 40 may access the Internet 20 by initiating 110 a connection that sends a data flow through a particular firewall device 12, for example firewall device A 12
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