a security faq -- a work in progress

When I have time, I'll start adding notes to this FAQ. Feel free to suggest questions -- hopefully with answers.

What is a DMZ?
"De-Militarized Zone" -- the neutral territory between hostile forces; the area between two opponents where fighting is prevented. For firewalls, the DMZ is within the outer screen (like a screening router) and outside of the inner wall (bastion host with application proxies). Sometimes, DMZ networks connect networks and computers controlled by different bodies. Often, public servers (i.e. web, ftp) are placed in the DMZ; and usually the firewall only allows a few protocols to reach these machines. By placing these public access servers on a separate isolated network, you provide extra security for your internal network. It also can help increase the internal network throughput since external traffic no longer appears on your internal network.

What is a a bastion host?
host between Internet and Intranet.