Chapter10.Verifying Firewall Operation

Chapter 10. Verifying Firewall Operation

Refer to the following sections for information about these topics:

• 10-1: Checking Firewall Vital Signs Discusses methods you can use to diagnose a firewall's health. System resources, logging output, throughput, failover, interface operation, and packet queuing are all covered.

• 10-2: Watching Data Pass Through a Firewall Covers ways that packets can be logged or captured as they pass through a firewall or through its interfaces.

• 10-3: Verifying Firewall Connectivity Provides a set of basic approaches to verify working communication through a firewall.

In the course of configuring and using a firewall, it is important to follow the appropriate security policies and offer the proper connectivity to the user community, all while making sure the firewall is operating properly.

A firewall's operation has many aspects, so it can be difficult to assess its health. When users call to complain about slow or lost connectivity, you should be able to decide if the problem is in the firewall or somewhere else.

This chapter presents several ways you can check a firewall's operation. This chapter also covers data-capture methods so that you can verify if data is passing through a firewall as expected.