Advanced Features
98
Virtual Servers
This feature, sometimes called Port Forwarding, allows you to make
Servers on your LAN accessible to Internet users. Normally, Internet users
would not be able to access a server on your LAN because:
❑ Your Server does not have a valid external IP Address.
❑ Attempts to connect to devices on your LAN are blocked by the
firewall in this device.
The “Virtual Server” feature solves these problems and allows Internet
users to connect to your servers, as illustrated below.
Figure 30 Virtual Servers
IP Address Seen
by Internet
Users
Note that, in this illustration, both Internet users are connecting to the
same IP Address, but using different protocols.
To Internet users, all virtual Servers on your LAN have the same IP
Address. This IP Address is allocated by your ISP.
This address should be static, rather than dynamic, to make it easier for
Internet users to connect to your Servers.
However, you can use the DDNS (Dynamic DNS) feature to allow users to
connect to your Virtual Servers using a URL, instead of an IP Address.