Network interfaces
The Access Gateway virtual appliance uses network interface to communicate. By default Access Gateway ships with a single defined interface. However, you can add additional interfaces. Access Gateway requires at least one network interface to communicate and can support up to ten.
You can use network interfaces to:
- Route management traffic - Define a specific interface for management connections, such as to access Access Gateway command line console or the admin console.
- Route application traffic - Use a specific interface for Access Gateway to protected application traffic as well as another network interface for external traffic.
- Route monitoring traffic - Use a specific interface exclusively for log forwarding, SNMP monitoring, or related traffic.
- Route special purpose traffic - Use a specific interface for specialized traffic, such as LDAP or Database access.
- Increase throughput - Network interfaces can be tied together, a process known as NIC bonding, to increase network traffic over a single logical interface.
Defining Network Interfaces
Defining a network interface varies by virtual environment.
- AWS EC2 uses the concept of an elastic network interface. Elastic network interface is a logical networking component that is defined and then attached to an instance of Access Gateway. At this point, it acts as a virtual network card. Elastic interfaces can be attached and detached from instances maintaining their configuration. You must create an elastic network interface when creating an AWS EC2 based instance of Access Gateway.
- Microsoft Azure supports the concept of a virtual network interface. Azure network interfaces allow a VM to communicate with the internet, Azure, and Azure-based services. By default, one interface is created for each virtual machine, but you can enable or add additional interfaces.
- Oracle Virtual Box supports up to four network interface adapters. By default, only one interface is defined, but you can enable additional interfaces using the Networks tab in VM settings.
- VMWare Fusion includes a single network interface by default and supports up to ten devices. The performance of the interface is limited only by the host computer. You can define additional interfaces using VM settings.
- VMWare VSphere/ESXi networking features enable communication between virtual machines on the same host, between virtual machines on different hosts, and between other virtual and physical machines. When creating a VM, a single network interface is provided. However, you can add additional network interfaces as required.