Typical pfSense deployment scenarios
Once you have decided to add a pfSense system to your network, you need to consider how it is going to be deployed on your network. pfSense is suitable for a variety of networks, from small to large ones, and can be employed in a variety of deployment scenarios. In this section, we will cover the following possible uses for pfSense:
- Perimeter firewall
- Router
- Switch
- Wireless router/wireless access point
As this book is aimed at beginner pfSense users, we will mainly focus on the first two items, as these are the most common uses of a pfSense device. We will, however, briefly discuss the latter two items.
The most common way to add pfSense to your network is to use it as a perimeter firewall. In this scenario, your internet connection is connected to one port on the pfSense system, and your local network is connected to another port on the system. The port connected to the internet is known as the WAN interface, and the port connected to the local network is...
