Windows Firewall Technologies
Purpose
Windows Firewall with Advanced Security and the related firewall technologies documented here enable developers to share Internet connections, protect connections using a firewall, and provide Network Address Translation (NAT).
Microsoft has released several versions of the firewall product, each building on the previous technology. The current release, Windows Firewall with Advanced Security, allows the creation of extremely specific firewall rules.
The specific technologies are as follows (listed here from newest to oldest):
- Windows Firewall with Advanced Security is the most recent version. It was first released with Windows Vista.
- Windows Firewall was first released as a component of Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (SP2).
- IPv6 Internet Connection Firewall was released as a component of the Advanced Networking Pack for Windows XP. It is unavailable in subsequent versions of Windows.
- Internet Connection Sharing and Internet Connection Firewall was first released in Windows XP and is supported in Windows Vista. It may be altered or unavailable in subsequent versions of Windows.
Developer audience
Developers must be knowledgeable in networking, TCP port management, and C/C++ programming.
Run-time requirements
The technologies described in this section have varied run-time requirements. Consult the documentation for the technology being used for its run-time requirements.
In this section
- Windows Firewall with Advanced Security
- Windows Firewall for Windows XP with SP2
- Internet Connection Sharing and Internet Connection Firewall
- IPv6 Internet Connection Firewall
- Network Address Translation Traversal