Pix transparent and router mode which to choose

[raould.traore]

HI,

i'm new to firewall and i would like to implement the pix firewall module, One of my question is which mode should i choose, transparent or routed, Did all both mode provide the same level of security, which is more secure and why? if you have link to more adavnced doc please send it to me. i read the firewal l mode section in the fwsm configuration doc but this doesn't tell too much.

Thanks

ralph

[rais]

In transparent mode, the firewall is like a firewall on a wire. The IP subnet on the outside and the inside is the same. It's not a routed hop. No ttl--. You can't NAT. Hence your inside/outside networks won't use the firewall as a next-hop. I think you can't even run OSPF. You still can apply policies based on TCP/IP etc. This option is best suited for networks that are already designed and in production.

Routed mode gives you all of the above.

Hope this helps.