Introduction

In this chapter we will look at the basics of deploying a SonicWALL firewall. The basics include a great deal of information. The SonicWALL firewall has a large number of configuration options. Before you can deploy a device, you must first understand how to manage it, so in the first section of this chapter we will look at the various methods of managing your SonicWALL firewall. Each option and best-known procedure is discussed. Strong system management is important, but no more so than preventing intruder attacks.

There are many management options available on the SonicWALL firewall. Of these options, there are two ways to manage the device directly. The first is using the command line interface (CLI). As mentioned previously, the CLI on SonicWALL appliances is limited in its capabilities. Some people prefer this method of device management for configuring interfaces and viewing interface statistics. Fully comprehending the command line interface allows you to better understand the SonicWALL firewall device.

The second firewall management option is the Web user interface (WebUI). This streamlined interface is user-friendly and intuitive, allowing anyone to jump in and manage your firewall with ease. Even command line junkies will use the WebUI to reference the configuration or to see a configuration more clearly.

Since a firewall is a core network component of the network, we will focus heavily on how to configure your device to interact with the network. This covers zone configuration and IP (Internet Protocol) address assignment. Properly configuring the network is...