Port Forwarding Concepts
Port Forwarding Made Simple:
Let’s take a few minutes to simplify port forwarding using a hotel as a metaphor. Imagine your business network is a large hotel. Your hotel has a street address that people can send packages to. However, for those packages to get to your guest, there needs to be a system in place that routes the packages to the right room. That is where Port Forwarding come in.
Let’s start with your internet connection. If you have a business, it is likely that you have a STATIC IP ADDRESS. This is your hotel’s street address (if you don’t have a static IP address, there are other tools IT teams can use to emulate this).
From the internet, systems are trying to send information to your hotel’s street address to send a package (information, commands, etc). This address is the fixed IP address of your network from you ISP (internet service provider) —a unique identifier that tells the internet where your network (hotel) is located.
Now, you’ve got a package to send (for instance, we want to send a view camera stream command to your Evidence Collection System). But the hotel is big, with many rooms (devices), and you need to ensure your package reaches the right room. So, we put a room number on the package when we send it. In the IT world, the room number is called a “Port”.
So, the package reaches your hotel’s street address and the delivery driver hands the package to your hotel’s receptionist. Your Reception (Firewall and Router) are the hotel’s reception desk. When a package arrives, the reception desk knows exactly where to send it because there is a room number (or port number) on the package.
Each room in the hotel has a unique number. In the context of port forwarding, this room number is like the port number. Just as you tell the reception desk the specific room number for your package, port forwarding tells your router which device (room) in your network (hotel) should receive the data.
The Process:
1. You send a package to the hotel’s street address (your fixed IP address).
2. The package arrives at the reception desk (your router or firewall).
3. The receptionist (router) checks the room number (port number) you’ve specified.
4. The receptionist (router) directs the package to the correct room (device) in the hotel (network).
So, why is this Important? Port forwarding ensures that data reaches the right device within your network, just like how a package reaches the right room in a hotel. It’s essential for services like web servers, gaming consoles, and security cameras that need specific data routes to function correctly.
