What is the difference between a Gateway and a Firewall and how do they relate to one another?

Question

How far it works to different intruders and attackers? and what are all the disadvantages in the firewalls security access?

Answer 1

SIMPLE ANSWER:
As the titles imply.
The Gateway is a "GATE"
The Firewall is a "WALL"

A gateway is used by a computer network as a "gate/doorway" to access another network. It is usually a hardware device (router) with a specific network (IP) address that is used in the network configuration for those tasks that require access outside your local network such as another network or that worldwide network, the internet. If for any reason it is not working (hardware failure, incorrect configuration, etc.) you will see errors that the other network is "inaccessible".

A Firewall is a software and/or hardware device that acts as a protective wall between your device/network and the outside networks. It can be configured to let all traffic have inbound access or only certain traffic from specified networks or IP addresses. Some only protect from things trying to get in while others also can restrict traffic/communication going outward (like software or a virus trying to "call home"). This two way protection is best.

How they relate? Very different components. You will NEED a gateway to access other networks. You CAN function without a firewall but run the risk of intruders getting in to your network The best combination is a good firewall (I use Free ZoneAlarm) AND a good virus program (I use Free AVG).

Hope that helps.

Answer 2

Gateway is used to connect two different network. For example within our organization we have intranet and when an ip packet is intended to go into internet then it goes through the gateway. Here I mentioned about two network one is intranet and other one is internet.
Firewall is system which control the ip packet flow by putting different means of policies such as which ip packet should be dropped, which should be diverted etc.
Hope it will help you out to understand the difference between these two terms.

Answer 3

A gateway is simply a device that joins together two different networks. In the most common scenario, an internal network with the internet. A router is an example of a gateway device. A router is a device that does routing, deciding where packets are sent to based on its IP address.

A firewall is a filter that examines packets against a set of defined rules in order to decide whether to allow the packets through.