Connecting to the Internet
It
is important to consider network security when connecting your
Windows 2003 network to the Internet. When a user connects to the
Internet, other computers can access the user’s computer, which
increases the possibility of unauthorized access by other users. In
a private intranet, however, security threats are reduced because a
private intranet is internal to an organization and is not easily
accessible to the public. The physical components used to securely
connect a network to the Internet include network address
translators (NATs), proxy servers, and firewalls.
-
Network address translators (NATs).
Enable you to configure a home or small office network to share
a single connection to the Internet.
-
Proxy servers.
Replace the private IP addresses of the computers sending
requests to an Internet server with the public IP addresses
assigned by an ISP to the proxy servers.
-
Firewalls.
Act as security barriers between an intranet and the Internet to
guard against intrusion by unauthorized users. Microsoft
implements both a proxy server and a firewall in a single
product, the Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration
Server.