Deploying Network Agent > Network Agent

Network Agent

Applies to

Web Filter v7.6

Web Security v7.6

Web Security Gateway v7.6

Web Security Gateway Anywhere v7.6

In this topic

u

Overview

u	Network Agent settings

Overview

Network Agent manages Internet protocols (including HTTP, HTTPS, and FTP), by examining network packets and identifying the protocol.

As with third-party integration products (like firewalls, routers, proxies, or network appliances), Network Agent can be configured to monitor HTTP requests and query Filtering Service to determine whether to allow or block a request, and then log the results of the query. Network Agent can also be configured to do the same for non-HTTP requests.

Network Agent must be installed on the internal side of the corporate firewall, in a location where it can see all Internet requests for the machines it is assigned to monitor. The agent then monitors HTTP and non-HTTP requests from those machines, and the responses that they receive.

Network Agent monitors and manages only the traffic that passes through the network device (switch or hub) to which it is attached. Multiple Network Agent instances may be needed, depending on the network size, volume of Internet requests, and the network configuration.

The Network Agent machine can connect to the network via a switch or a hub. See Connecting Network Agent to a hub, and Switched networks with a single Network Agent.

Network Agent can be installed on the same machine as some integration products. See Network Agent on gateway.

 

Warning  Do not install Network Agent on a machine running a firewall or Remote Filtering Server. On a firewall, Network Agent's packet-capturing may conflict with the firewall software. On a Remote Filtering Server, machine resources may be too heavily taxed.

Network Agent settings

Configure Network Agent global settings (applying to all agent instances) and local settings (specific to a single agent instance) in the TRITON - Web Security console. These settings tell Network Agent which machines to monitor and which to ignore.

u	Global settings:

Specify which machines are part of your network.

Identify any machines in your network that Network Agent should monitor for incoming requests (for example, internal Web servers).

Specify bandwidth calculation and protocol logging behavior.

u	Local settings:

Specify which Filtering Service is associated with each Network Agent.

Identify proxies and caches used by the machines that this Network Agent monitors.

Determine which network interface card (NIC) the Network Agent instance uses to monitor requests and which NIC it uses to send block pages.

Configuration settings for the NIC used to monitor requests determine which segment of the network the agent instance monitors.

Deploying Network Agent > Network Agent