NETGEAR FVX538NA manual Appendix C Network Planning for Dual WAN Ports

Appendix C

Network Planning for Dual WAN Ports

This appendix describes the factors to consider when planning a network using a firewall that has dual WAN ports.

What You Will Need to Do Before You Begin

The ProSafe VPN Firewall 200 is a powerful and versatile solution for your networking needs. But to make the configuration process easier and to understand all of the choices available to you, you need to think through the following items before you begin:

1.Plan your network

a.Determine whether you are going to use one or both WAN ports. For one WAN port, you may need a fully qualified domain name either for convenience or if you have a dynamic IP address.

b.If you are going to use both WAN ports, determine whether you are going to use them in rollover mode for increased system reliability or load balancing mode for maximum bandwidth efficiency. See the topics in this appendix for more information. Your decision has the following implications:

• Fully qualified domain name

–For rollover mode, you are going to need a fully qualified domain name to implement features such as exposed hosts and virtual private networks.

–For load balancing mode, you may still need a fully qualified domain name either for convenience or if you have a dynamic IP address.

•Protocol binding

–For rollover mode, protocol binding does not apply.

–For load balancing mode, you need to decide which protocols you want to bind to a specific WAN port if you are going to take advantage of this option (you will make these selections in “Configuring the WAN Mode (Required for Dual WAN)” on page 2-10).

Network Planning for Dual WAN Ports C-1

v1.0, August 2006