Gateway vs. Firewall: What is The Difference?

You may have heard the terms “gateway” and “firewall” used in connection with network security. But what does this terminology mean? Furthermore, what is the distinction between a gateway and a firewall? This essay will examine the responses to the questions above.

Table of Contents

• What is Gateway?
• What is Firewall?
• Gateway vs. Firewall, What is the difference?
• Conclusion

What is a Gateway?

A gateway is a device that connects two networks with different communication protocols (for example, TCP/IP protocol, IPX protocol, DECnet protocol, SNA, …). Specifically, when one network wants to communicate with another, the gateway is responsible for processing the network’s input data packet and then being delivered by the gateway appropriately to the destination, facilitating compatibility between the two different protocols, which allows two networks to communicate with each other. Therefore, the gateway is also known as a protocol converter. The gateway has the characteristics of both the router and modem.

There are two kinds of gateways.

• Unidirectional Gateways: A unidirectional gateway only permits alerts to be transmitted in one direction. Changes made in the source ObjectServer are replicated in the application or destination ObjectServer; however, changes made in the destination ObjectServer or application are not duplicated in the source ObjectServer. The unidirectional approach facilitates the creation of archives.
• Bidirectional Gateways: A bidirectional gateway authorizes the source ObjectServer to transmit an alert to the target or specific destination ObjectServer or application and allows the source ObjectServer to receive a response from the target or specific destination ObjectServer or application.

What is Firewall?

A firewall is designed to monitor incoming and outgoing network traffic and decide whether to allow or block specific traffic based on a set of security rules. It creates a barrier between your internal network and incoming traffic from external sources, such as the Internet, to stop malicious traffic such as viruses and hackers.

Firewalls can be either software or hardware (it is best to have both on your network). Software firewalls are programs installed on each computer that regulate traffic through port numbers and applications, while physical firewalls are devices installed between the network and the gateway.

There are numerous types of firewalls.

• Packet-filtering firewalls are the most basic and have been used for the longest time. This firewall performs a simple inspection of data packets passing through the router.
• Circuit-level gateways This simple firewall verifies the handshake of the transmission control protocol (TCP) to guarantee that packets are genuine.
• Stateful inspection firewalls contain both packet inspection and TCP handshake verification.
• Proxy firewalls filter incoming traffic and operate at the application layer. They can be provided through the cloud or another proxy device.
• Deep-packet inspection, TCP handshake verification, surface-level packet inspection, and intrusion prevention systems are all frequent components of next-generation firewalls (IPSs).
• Software firewalls create an additional layer of defense within the system by isolating network endpoints from one another.
• Hardware firewalls are great for perimeter security because they stop harmful traffic before it reaches network endpoints.
• Cloud firewalls are often known as FaaS firewalls (firewall-asa-service). Cloud-based firewalls are easy to scale; if your company’s needs grow, add additional capacity to the cloud server.

Gateway vs. Firewall, What is the difference?

The main difference between Gateway and Firewall is mainly in the following aspects.

Basis of Comparison	Gateway	Firewall
Definition	A gateway is a network hardware device or hardware node used to connect two different networks linked together. Gateways can also connect a single network to numerous additional networks.	A firewall is a network security device that filters traffic originating from potentially harmful or insecure sources while keeping track of the traffic into and out of a network.
Function	Gateways’ essential functions are connecting different devices to public and private networks. Gateways also link devices to the existing networks.	The firewall will examine and monitor all incoming and outgoing packets, and any packets that do not meet the specified security requirements will be blocked.
Purpose	Two different network systems can connect through the usage of gateways.	The firewall’s primary purpose is to filter suspicious traffic, including those brought on by viruses and hackers.
Feature	A gateway can be used for both WAN interconnection and LAN interconnection. A gateway is a computer system or device that does the heavy lifting of switching.	Firewall mainly lies in the timely detection and processing of computer network operation of possible security risks, data transmission, and other issues, including the processing measures, include isolation and protection, while the computer network security in the implementation of the operation of the record and detection, to ensure the security of computer network operation.

Final Words

So, Gateway vs. Firewall, what is the difference? A Gateway is mainly used for compatibility between different protocols, while a Firewall is used primarily for security purposes by blocking and allowing traffic. Also, a gateway is a hardware, while the firewall is software or hardware. And gateway is mainly present in the network layer, while the firewall is primarily in the application layer. So, this is the main difference between Gateway and Firewall. You can choose either Gateway or Firewall based on your requirements.

I hope you found this article helpful. If you have any further queries, please let us know in the comments section below, and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

Read more

• Ethernet Switch Port Types: A Complete Guide
• PoE Ethernet Switch vs. PoE Router vs. PoE Media Converter vs. PoE Injector vs. PoE Splitter Comparison

Reference

• https://www.tutorialspoint.com/difference-between-gateway-and-firewall