1. What are Access Rules?
Access Control Rules are rules that mandate specific traffic from being sent to and from certain users on a network. Access Rules can be configured to be in effect all the time or based on a defined schedule. While an access rule can be configured on a router or a switch, it is configured based on various criteria in order to allow or deny access to some or all resources in the network.
2. What are options 66, 67, and 150 for TFTP server?
A TFTP server allows an admin to store, retrieve, and download configuration files for devices on a network. A Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) Server leases and distributes IP addresses to devices on the network. When a device boots, and an IPv4 or IPv6 address and TFTP server IP address are not preconfigured, the device will send out a request to the DHCP server with Options 66, 67, and 150. These options are requests to the DHCP server to obtain information about the TFTP server.
• DHCP Option 150 is Cisco proprietary. It provides the IP addresses in a list of TFTP servers. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standard equivalent is Option 66.
• DHCP Option 66 gives the IP address or the hostname of a single TFTP server.
• DHCP Option 67 provides the boot file name for the TFTP server.
3. What are the differences between running in router mode vs. gateway mode?
There are two modes in which your router can operate, the router mode and the gateway mode. The router mode is the operating mode that disables Network Address Translation (NAT) on the device and is used to connect more than one router and multiple networks. This is best used in wide area network environments.
Gateway mode is the recommended mode if the router is hosting a network connection directly to the Internet. NAT is running when Gateway mode is enabled, meaning that it will take a single WAN IP address and have an entire block of LAN IP addresses.
4. What are systems logs?
System logs (Syslog) are records of network events. In the event of system malfunction, you can retrieve the logs to diagnose the system problem. Logs are important tools that are used to understand how a network operates to run the system smoothly and prevent failures. They are useful for network management, troubleshooting, and monitoring.
5. What are DHCP Modes?
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) has two modes: DHCP Server and DHCP Relay. A DHCP server automatically assigns available IP addresses to a DHCP client or host on the network. The DHCP server and DHCP client must be connected to the same network link. In larger networks where the clients and the servers are not on the same physical subnet, each network link contains one or more DHCP relay agents. A DHCP relay agent can be a router. When a client sends the router a DHCP request, the router will then forward it to the DHCP server asking to provide an IP address for the client. The DHCP server sends its reply to the router and then the router will forward it to the client. The router and the DHCP server do not need to be on the same subnet to function. The router acts as a liaison between the client and the DHCP server.
6. What is 3G/4G?
It is the type of technology for mobile broadband or wireless Internet that can be accessed through mobile phones or through portable modems. The letter G stands for the generation. The 4G technology is one of the latest and one of the fastest today after Long Term Evolution (LTE). Some Cisco VPN Routers allow you to share the Internet connection from supported 3G/4G USB dongles that can be attached to it to serve as a failover in case the main Internet Service Provider (ISP) goes down or slows down.
7. What is a certificate generator and when would I use it?
A digital certificate certifies the ownership of a public key by the named subject of the certificate. This allows relying parties to depend upon signatures or assertions made by the private key that corresponds to the public key that is certified. A router can generate a self-signed certificate, a certificate created by the network administrator. It can also send out requests to Certificate Authorities (CA) to apply for a digital identity certificate. It is important to have legitimate certificates from third party applications.
8. What is a firewall and when would I use one?
The primary objective of a firewall is to control the incoming and outgoing network traffic by analyzing the data packets and determining whether it should be allowed through or not, based on a predetermined rule set. A router is considered to be a strong hardware firewall due to functions that allow filtering of inbound data. A network firewall builds a bridge between an internal network that is assumed to be secure and trusted and another network, usually an external internetwork such as the Internet that is assumed not to be secure and untrusted.
9. What is a trusted IPSec Certificate?
Internet Protocol Security (IPSec) generates secure, authenticated, and reliable communication over IP networks. It is used in the exchange of key generation and authentication data, key establishment protocol, encryption algorithm, or authentication mechanism of secure authentication and validation of online transactions with Secure Socket Layer (SSL) certificates. On the RV320, you can add a maximum of 50 certificates that are either self-signed or authorized by third party CA. These certificates can be exported to a computer or USB device and be imported to be used by a client or administrator.
10. What is a trusted SSL certificate?
Certificates are used to verify the user identity on a computer or Internet and to enhance a private or secured conversation. Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is the standard security technology for creating an encrypted link between a web server and a browser. These certificates can be exported to a computer or USB device and be imported to be used by a client or administrator.
11. What is Client-To-Gateway VPN?
Client-to-Gateway Virtual Private Network (VPN) means a user can remotely connect different branches of your company located at different geographical areas to transmit and receive the data among the areas more securely. A user would typically have a VPN client software such as the Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client installed on a computer, log in with the necessary credentials and connect to a remote router or gateway.
Note: There have been updates on licensing requirements for RV340 series starting with version 1.0.3.15 moving forward. For details about this, click here.
12. What is Content Filtering?
Content filtering is a feature that allows an administrator to block designated, unwanted websites. Content filtering can blacklist and whitelist access to websites according to keywords and Uniform Resource Locators (URLs). An administrator may apply a schedule to content filtering according to when it should be active.
13. What is CoS?
Class of Service (CoS) is a way of managing traffic over a network by assigning a priority over other kinds of traffic. It is used to assign priority levels to Ethernet frame headers of network traffic, and is only applicable to trunked links. By differentiating traffic, CoS allows preferred data packets to be policed and prioritized for transmission in the event that the network experiences issues such as congestion or delay. You can map CoS priority settings to the traffic forwarding queue on a router.
14. What is DHCP Option 82?
The DHCP relay is a feature included in the router that allows DHCP communication between hosts and remote DHCP servers that are not on the same network. Option 82 is a DHCP relay agent information option allows a DHCP relay agent to include information about itself when forwarding client-originated DHCP packets to a DHCP server. The DHCP server can use this information to implement IP addressing or other parameter-assignment policies. Its thorough identification of the connection adds security to the DHCP process.
15. What is DHCP?
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is a network configuration protocol that automatically configures the IP addresses of devices on a network so that they can connect to one another instead of manually assigning an IP address to a device.
16. What is DMZ and when should I use it?
A Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) is a sub-network that is open to the public but behind the firewall. A DMZ allows you to redirect packets coming into your WAN port to a specific IP address in your LAN. You can configure firewall rules to allow access to specific services and ports in the DMZ from both the LAN or WAN. In the event of an attack on any of the DMZ nodes, the LAN is not necessarily vulnerable. It is recommended that you place hosts that must be exposed to the WAN (such as web or e-mail servers) in the DMZ network.
17. What is DSCP?
Differentiated Services Code Point (DSCP) is used to classify network traffic and assign different levels of service to packets by marking them with DSCP codes in the IP header field. The DSCP settings will dictate how DSCP values map to Quality of Service (QoS), which is a method of managing priority levels of traffic on a network. It is through DSCP that the router can use the priority bits in the Type of Service (ToS) octet to prioritize traffic over QoS in layer 3.
18. What is Dynamic DNS?
Dynamic Domain Name System (DNS) is a method of automatically updating a name server in the DNS, often in real time, with the active DDNS configuration of its configured hostnames, addresses or other information. This service assigns a fixed domain name to a dynamic WAN IP address, so you can host your own web, FTP, or another type of TCP/IP server on your LAN. The router uses DDNS through a web-based DDNS account. If the WAN IP address of the router changes, the DDNS feature will notify the DDNS server of the change. The DDNS server will then update the configuration to include the new WAN IP address. This is useful if the WAN IP address of the router often changes. A DDNS account must be created on one of the provided websites to utilize the DDNS feature on the router.
By the way, you can check the price of Cisco SMB Routers.
Learn more:
How do I change the license of my router?
Which Huawei Routers are EOM or EOS?
How to set up Email Server of Cisco RV160x?
How to set up Initial Router of RV260x Series?
How to view the VPN status of RV160x
How do configure the automatic updates for RV260x
How to configuring the day and time of Access Rules on RV160x/RV260x Devices?