WatchGuard Technologies SSL VPN manual Planning your deployment

Planning your deployment

Administration Desktop also provides access to the Real-Time Monitor, where you can view a list of cur- rent users and close the connection for any user.

Planning your deployment

This chapter discusses deployment scenarios for the Firebox SSL VPN Gateway. You can deploy the Fire- box SSL VPN Gateway at the perimeter of your organization’s internal network (or intranet) to provide a secure single point-of-access to the servers, applications, and other network resources residing in the internal network. All remote users must connect to the Firebox SSL VPN Gateway before they can access any resources on the internal network.

This section discusses the following Firebox SSL VPN Gateway deployments:

•Deploying the Firebox SSL VPN Gateway in the network demilitarized zone (DMZ)

•Deploying the Firebox SSL VPN Gateway in a secure network that does not have a DMZ

Deploying the Firebox SSL VPN Gateway in the Network DMZ

Many organizations protect their internal network with a DMZ. A DMZ is a subnet that lies between an organization’s secure internal network and the Internet (or any external network). When the Firebox SSL VPN Gateway is deployed in the DMZ, users access it using the Secure Access Client or the kiosk client.

In this configuration, you install the Firebox SSL VPN Gateway in the DMZ and configure it to connect to both the Internet and the internal network. When you deploy the Firebox SSL VPN Gateway in the DMZ, client connections must traverse the first firewall to connect to the Firebox SSL VPN Gateway. By default, clients use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) on port 443 to establish this connection. To support this connec- tivity, you must allow SSL on port 443 through the first firewall.

Note

You can change the port clients use to connect to the Firebox SSL VPN Gateway by altering the port setting in the Administration Tool. This port setting is discussed in “Configuring TCP/IP Settings Using Network Cables”.

.The Firebox SSL VPN Gateway decrypts the SSL connections from the client and establishes a connec- tion on behalf of the client to the network resources behind the second firewall. The ports that must be open through the second firewall are dependent on the network resources that you authorize external users to access.

For example, if you authorize external users to access a Web server in the internal network, and this server listens for HTTP connections on port 80, you must allow HTTP on port 80 through the second fire- wall. The Firebox SSL VPN Gateway establishes the connection through the second firewall to the HTTP server on the internal network on behalf of the external clients.

The Firebox SSL VPN Gateway administrative tools available on the Firebox SSL VPN Gateway also listen for connections on these ports:

•Port 9001 - Connections to the Administration Portal occur on this port.

•Port 9002 - Connections to the Administration Tool occur on this port

Deploying the Firebox SSL VPN Gateway in a Secure Network

You can install the Firebox SSL VPN Gateway in the secure network. In this scenario, there is typically one firewall between the Internet and the secure network. The Firebox SSL VPN Gateway resides inside the firewall to control access to the network resources.

18 Firebox SSL VPN Gateway