Types Of Network Gateways

There are primarily two types of network gateways- unidirectional and bidirectional network gateways. A gateway is generally what allows you to gain access to a network. Think of types of network gateways as you would of a gate to a house: opening it up would let you enter the house but if it is closed you would not be able to get inside. A gateway is a node and a computer that controls the traffic, the network or the Internet Service Provider (ISP) though in most homes a gateway connects users to the internet. In some cases information can only be received or sent while in other types of network gateways information can be exchanged (received and sent) as well.

As the name suggests, unidirectional gateways are those types of network gateways that allow information and alerts to flow in one direction. These are frequently used where the work that a company or governmental department deals with is highly sensitive or secret. The defense ministry and department of several countries use these types of network gateways because it ensures that any information is safe and secure from other countries. This is also why intelligence agencies use these types of network gateways. One can use these to transfer important and sensitive documents and files or to synchronize time in networks that are highly secure as well.

Sometimes certain information needs to be made available for the public but at the same time it is important to protect these types of gateways so that they aren’t attacked or hacked when sending information. This is frequently the case when, say, the government has to make the results of an election public. Using these types of network gateways allows them to protect themselves from users who may try to gain access to these computers via illegal methods. Since these computers are less secure than other computers that are used by the government, for example, using unidirectional network gateways would be a good idea.

Where bidirectional network gateways are concerned, these allow for synchronization with another computer and so, information can be exchanged. These are used publicly and information can be exchanged and viewed by the person sending information and documents and it can also be viewed by the person receiving it. Alternatively, the sender may be the receiver and the receiver may be the sender too. it is due to these types of network gateways that a computer may become infected by a virus from external sources- hackers can gain access to another’s computer where bidirectional gateways are concerned and this way viruses are spread from one computer to another.

In order to secure these types of network gateways firewalls are put up so that information that seems suspicious or unusual cannot enter the receiver’s computer. Then you’ve got database gateways and these types of network gateways are used to keep track of historical records of those alerts that are forward to the ObjectServer.

These are some of the many types of network gateways.