As a leading provider and manager of firewalls in Australia, Intellect IT are often asked what the difference between a firewall and a proxy server is. The below is a quick guide to help distil the differences. Firewalls and proxy servers are both elements of network security. To some extent, they are similar in that they limit or block connections to and from a network. However, they achieve this in different ways. Firewalls can block ports and programs that try to gainunauthorised access to a computer or network, while proxy servers basically hide a network from the Internet.
Blocking Malware
Firewalls and proxy servers both help block viruses and other forms of malware. Firewalls can block ports commonly used by malicious viruses and worms. A firewall can also be used to specify which ports can be opened. Standard ports that are usually open are HTTP (port 80) for web, SMTP (port 25) for email and POP3 (port 110) also for email. Conversely, proxy servers create a barrier by being the middleman that sits between a network and the Internet. Users outside the network can see only the proxy server, compared to those inside the network can reach the Internet only by going through the proxy, limiting thepotential for viruses and worms to enter through it.
Blocking Programs
Firewallsare capable of preventingapplications from running on a computer, such as games, instant messaging apps or other software formats.Proxy servers cannot do this.
Blocking Websites
Some firewalls these days allow the ability to block individual sites. However, this isn’t the norm for firewalls, and this is better suited to a proxy server.
Functional Differences
Firewalls essentially block communication while proxy servers simply redirect it. When you are blocked from a website due to a proxy, it is not exactly blocking the communication. Rather, the proxy server has an internal mechanism that redirects those requests elsewhere on your network. The site appears blocked to the user, but the request was only redirected to point to something else.
If your business is considering security solutions for your corporate network, our experts are available for a discussion. To know more visit http://www.intellectit.com.au/what-we-offer/security/firewalls/ .