Gateway Definition

The common definition of "what is gateway" revolves on its function as a hardware device that serves as a gate between two networks. This gateway is a hardware that can come in the form of a firewall, router or server. As for the two networks, it can be a home or office network and a wider area network like the Internet.

The Kinds of Gateway

Although the gateway is considered part of the network, it works primarily on its outer fringes to regulate the flow of data between the internal and external networks. A gateway serves as a buffer or protection against the dangers of the outside network thus firewalls are considered gateways.

Gateways also translate data from the outside network so that devices on the inner network can work on the information. Routers perform this latter function. Internet data coming into the router gets translated into browser data which those programs then translate into webpages on your computer screen.

Aside from protecting the network and translating data, gateways also regulate traffic between two networks. A server is an example of this type of gateway function. Techs sometimes set up proxy servers in order to make sure that computers inside their clients' networks can only access a particular site.

There are also special kinds of gateways like a cloud-based gateway or secure email gateway.

Secure Email Gateway

Now that cloud technology is becoming more and more prominent, gateways are becoming less and less apparent as hardware. Since cloud architecture relies on servers, there are less and less hardware and appliances in companies. Gateways are becoming more like apps. One such example of a gateway is the Comodo Antispam Gateway, a secure email gateway that combats unsolicited messages.

Comodo Antispam is a robust secure email gateway which integrates three layers of proprietary Comodo technology to protect the email accounts inside a company network. There's the advanced email protection algorithm, email protection containment technology, and the command console. Here's what Comodo Antispam provides in terms of advantages as a secure email gateway.

• 1. A centralized command console which puts user and group mail management under the fingertips of MSP personnel.

Admins can profile their clients' users and give each user a different security profile. By applying security features and restrictions on a case per case basis, administrators will be able to shield the most vulnerable users through this secure email gateway.

• 2. Comodo's unique containment technology works to cage zero-day threats entering the secure email gateway.

The secure email gateway works with the Valkyrie file verdict system. What happens is when an employee receives an email in a network protected by the secure email gateway, Comodo's containment technology will isolate any files, run it in a boxed environment, and let Valkyrie check whether the file is a threat. If things go past the secure email gateway, the containment technology will take care of it.

• 3. A sophisticated filtering system that predicts spam, phishing email, and malware threats that get past the secure email gateway.

The secure email gateway Comodo Antispam uses is a strategic approach to email security filtering. Emails pass through several gateways and then get scanned using the Comodo Antivirus and Valkyrie. This system is set up in a way that the system intelligently learns and adapts to new spam techniques. The emails which come from sources the company or their cloud services provider trusts receives auto whitelisting. Mail recognized as spam ends up in quarantine.

This should answer your basic questions on what is gateway and help you understand its functions as well as special forms of gateways like the secure email gateway. Gateways are largely innocuous since they work mainly in the background. But good knowledge on what is gateway can help you work with support personnel when certain problems crop up. For sure, this will come up when you need to troubleshoot something. You never know when this knowledge will come in handy but it will serve you well when it does.