why does zonealarm go of with internal server client application

[rookie1010]

Hello

why does the zonealarm go of when i am trying to run and test a client server program locally(on the same machine). i mean the purpose of a firewall is to prevent stuff from accessing external sites or prevent external apps to access the internals of my network.

 

[RebateMonger]

Actually, the purpose of a PC's firewall is to control traffic through a network interface. "Local" traffic (from other PCs in the same network) are frequently the source of worms, so a good firewall will restrict traffic from both the Internet AND from local PCs.

It's quite common to see ZoneAlarm (and other firewalls intended for home use) interfering with necessary Server traffic on a business network.

 

[rookie1010]

thanks for the reply

in my case i was just trying to use the loopback feature (127.0.0.1) and hence there is only one computer on my internal network, why was the firewall being activated in this case?

 

[spidey07]

I firewall normally sits between the TCP/ip stack and the OS. So any calls to the stack are monitored by the firewall.

So absolutely is the firewall involved even on loopback - that still involves the stack.

 

[rookie1010]

thanks for the reply

so the configuration is OS <-- > firewall <--> TCP/IP stack and hence all calls to the TCP/Ip stack need to go through the firewall, correct?