Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server 2000

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ISA Server 2000 (formerly known as Proxy server) is a product designed to provide two services. It can function as a multilayer firewall providing packet filtering on packet, circuit, and application layers ; access policy control; virtual private network (VPN); stateful inspection; and traffic routing. It can also serve as a web cache server. ISA Server tightly integrates with Windows security features and can be deployed as a firewall, as a cache server, or in integrated mode combining both features. ISA Server fits into an overall portal security strategy by providing a necessary level of physical security. You should always include firewalls in online enterprise architectures as the first line of defense against potential attacks. They work by examining all incoming traffic and blocking packets that are deemed dangerous.

The RAM and disk-based caching functionality of the ISA Server can benefit any portal site. Data caching is important for high-performance, high-volume sites. Caching, when implemented correctly, can significantly reduce network traffic, dramatically reduce response time, and therefore improve the user experience.

ISA Server allows administrators to define rules that control the visibility of internal resources to external portal users. These rules, which make up a publishing policy, work by analyzing each request coming into your site from outside and matching request parameters with existing rules to decide whether the targeted server should be allowed to serve the request.

ISA Server can also provide necessary protection by working in the opposite direction. You can establish a set of access policy rules that control how internal users can access external Internet sites. ISA Server then analyzes each outgoing request, looking at its originator's username or IP address and matching it with an established set of access policy rules. Access policy can be applied to individual users or Windows groups, thereby giving administrators wide powers in controlling Internet access rules for your internal users.

You can install ISA Server as a VPN solution, which provides a secure channel of communication across an insecure medium (the Internet). A typical scenario would involve two offices that were geographically separated (see Figure 6.12). ISA Server would be installed in each office and serve as a gateway providing interoffice secure connections over the Internet.

Figure 6.12. ISA 2000 Deployment

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Building Portals, Intranets, and Corporate Web Sites Using Microsoft Servers
Building Portals, Intranets, and Corporate Web Sites Using Microsoft Servers
ISBN: 0321159632
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2004
Pages: 164

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