These FAQ's include Frequently Encountered Problems and their solutions when being converted to NAT and being placed behind the Firewall. These are known issues that relate to network connectivity and or network software issues that occur during the process. When the entire campus is placed within NAT and behind the firewall, the majority of these problems will be eliminated.

Frequently Asked Questions and Encountered Problems:

In the event you encounter a problem that is not answered here, please submit a problem request to the helpdesk, or if you have proprietary software that was working and now is not, please click here to submit a firewall specific problem report.

 

1. What is it going to break?

This is a far-reaching and vague question, but has an answer. So far as we [UCS] can tell, the most obvious applications that will not appear to work in the same manner are: Exchange based E-mail (Outlook clients), users that telecommute back to their workstation from a remote location using pcAnywhere or Terminal Services and access to various network resources. This answer does not encompass all the problems, but the majority of what we have seen.

 

2. What do you mean Outlook is slow?

Due to the nature of E-mail, folks like to see, and are used to seeing instantaneous results - a convenience of electronic mail, but not the norm. During the conversion process machines that are placed behind the firewall will notice a 'lag' in mail arrival. This is expected behavior. The Exchange Server is outside the firewall, and until it is moved, all Exchange (Outlook Clients) users will experience this delay. It is not degradation in performance, rather the client (Outlook) times out and believes it no longer has a connection to the Exchange Server, once the user clicks on a message, or creates a new one, the connection is refreshed and queued mail arrives.

A typical result of the above situation is when a user, who has minimized the Outlook client and not used it all day, decides to type a new mail message, and suddenly receives a dozen or so messages.

 

3. Why won't pcAnywhere work anymore from my house?

pcAnywhere is a remote administration and virtual desktop tool used by some Faculty and staff to remotely connect back to their workstation from remote locations. Once you are placed behind the firewall and into NAT, a static mapping must be put into place by the UCS Networking Staff, before a pcAnywhere connection is made to your workstation. There are also some client side configuration changes that will need to be made before the connecting client can make the connection. Right now UCS is in the process of determining whether or not pcAnywhere, will be officially supported. If it is, then an agreement may have to be signed indicating that you are aware of the potential risks to your machine by employing the use of the software.

Click here to request a static mapping through the firewall/NAT

 

4. I can no longer access the Citrix server, either through the web or through the 32 bit client - Why?

In the event of the 32 bit Citrix client, the server mapping needs to be changed to reflect the new IP address [206.212.0.60]. In the case of the web client, the browser cache should be deleted and the history cleared.

 

5. My printer will no longer print from banner, why?

Just as machines are moved behind the firewall and into NAT, so are the network attached printers. If your printer has been converted and you are unaware of the new IP address, please contact the IT Helpdesk for assistance.

 

6. If no one tells me, how do I know if my machine has been converted?

The easiest way to tell is by following these steps:

1. Go to the Start Menu->Run and type 'CMD'
2. At the Command Prompt (C:) type ipconfig /all
3. If the IP address is 10.101.x.x, or some variant of, then your machine has been switched.

 

7. What are Ports?

There are two different types that we are concerned with:

1. Ports are the physical network jacks that data packets pass through on a Switch, Router, Bridge, Hub, etc.
2. Ports on individual machines are the network channels by which certain types of network applications and data packets connect to.

Right now UCS implements Port Security, whereby a physical port can be shutdown on a moments notice. The Firewall will eliminate the constant need for human intervention when concerning machine ports. Only certain types of network traffic will be allowed to pass through the firewall and into the NAT scopes