About Configuring the Appliance System

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The system of a Secure Web Gateway appliance is configured to support the filtering functions that protect your network against threats arising from the web.

When performing this configuration, you will mainly be dealing with system settings and files. Some system settings are already configured during the initial setup of Secure Web Gateway, others can be configured later on the user interface.

Initial system settings — System configuration is in part performed during the initial setup of Secure Web Gateway.

Settings that are configured during this setup include the primary network interface, host name, root password, and others.

System settings — After the initial setup, you can configure more system settings and also modify the initial settings. This includes configuring system settings for:
- Network interfaces — Network interfaces are configured to enable processing of web traffic on a Secure Web Gateway appliance, specifying the host name, gateways, use of the IPv4 or IPv6 protocol, and other settings.
  
  Some of these settings are already configured during the initial setup.
  
  For more information, see Configuring Network Interfaces.
- Proxies — The proxy functions of Secure Web Gateway can be configured to let it run as a proxy that receives web traffic sent by clients and transmits it to the web if this is allowed by the rules of your web policy.
  
  For more information, see the following and About Proxy Configuration.
  
  The proxy functions can be configured in different ways regarding:
  - Network mode — The network mode can be an explicit (also known as direct) proxy mode. In this mode, clients must be explicitly configured to send their requests for web access to Secure Web Gateway. It can also to a transparent mode, where the clients are unaware that their requests are redirected to Secure Web Gateway.
  - Network protocol — The network protocol can be, for example, HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, ICAP, or IFP, to enable the filtering of web traffic that is going on under any of these protocols. The proxy functions can be configured to let Secure Web Gateway, for example, run as an HTTP proxy for traffic going on under HTTP and as an FTP proxy for FTP traffic at the same time.
- Cluster nodes — You can run a Secure Web Gateway appliance in standalone mode, but also run multiple appliances as nodes in a cluster.
  
  To configure a cluster with several appliances as nodes, the Central Management system settings are provided.
  
  For more information, see About Cluster Configuration.
- Update schedules — Updates are scheduled to ensure that the latest available information is used by the filtering functions on Secure Web Gateway.
System files — System files contain particular parameters of the appliance system. They can be modified using the File Editor.
Additional system configuration — System configuration can also include several other activities.
- Network interface bonding — Bonding two or more network interfaces enables them to act as one while increasing bandwidth and providing High Availability.
- Cache volume resizing — Logical volumes for web caching and for storing temporary and log files can be resized on an appliance using a wizard.
- Closed networks — Secure Web Gateway appliances can be operated and updated in networks that have no internet connectivity for security or other reasons. These networks are also known as "closed" or "isolated" networks.