Gateways

Overview

A gateway is a path for computer traffic to take from one network to another . To use IP Sharing, you need at least two gateways: one external gateway (such as the Default gateway) that connects to the internet, and one internal gateway that connects to your local network.

Default Gateway

The Default Gateway is always present, and represents your default external connection to the internet.

Internal Gateways

You need one Internal Gateway for each network subnet you wish to create on your local network. The setup assistant creates one by default.

If you wish to share your connection with more than one local network (such as through an ethernet hub and also through an AirPort card), you should add another internal gateway for the additional network connection.

It is also possible to create internal gateways with different addresses on the same local network connections. This can be used to create what is known as a 'De-Militarized Zone' on your network, if you wish to keep publicly available servers on a different set of internet address numbers than other local machines.

External Gateways

If your computer has been assigned more than one permanent internet address, you may wish to create additional External Gateways to allow redirection of incoming traffic based on incoming internet address numbers.

 
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