What's New With Windows Firewall?

The Windows Firewall was first introduced with Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2), and was later added to Windows Server 2003 as part of Service Pack 1 (SP1). The Windows Firewall was a big improvement over its predecessor, which had no built-in, host-based firewall at all. This initial release was very basic and included only the most fundamental functionality. With the advent of Vista and Windows Server 2008, the Windows Firewall has been given a substantial makeover and is now known as Windows Firewall with Advanced Security (WFAS). Keep reading for a description of the new features in WFAS as well as a step-by-step configuration example.

Here is a list of some of the most important new features in WFAS:

• WFAS is enabled by default in Windows Server 2008
• The firewall now supports both incoming and outgoing rules
• There is a new Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-for WFAS and in this new interface the firewall configuration has been merged with Internet Protocol Security (IPSec) configuration
• Command line interface changes
• Configuration of rules/exceptions is much more powerful
• New profile options

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