Add new / Edit interface

Use this dialog box to add a new interface connection.

Navigation: Network > Configuration > Interfaces > Add new interface / Edit.

Add new / Edit interface
Name A meaningful name for the interface.
Type

The type of your connection. The options of the dialog box update with your selection.

Interface Description
Bonding A Bonding interface is a software interface that combines NICs to provide high availability.
VLAN A virtual local area network (VLAN) is a virtual network zone. VLAN interfaces are software interfaces, associated with a NIC.
Bridge A Bridge interface is a software interface that links network zones, that is, NICs, together.
PPPoE A Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE) interface connects network zones using modems, or similar devices.

Bonding

Ports The relevant Smoothwall ports to be used as bonded interfaces. If the port is already in use, it's unavailable for selection.
Use as

How the connection is being used. The options on the dialog box update with your selection.

NIC Role Description
External External interfaces connect your network to the Internet. Internet connections are made through the NIC configured as External. You can configure this with a static IP address, or with one set by your ISP’s DHCP server. You must assign the IP address, and gateway if provided, as advised by your ISP. This can either be a static IP address or one assigned dynamically.
Basic interface Typically, basic interfaces deal with internal network traffic. During installation, a basic interface is reserved, and configured to provide a direct link to the Smoothwall Filter and Firewall, either through the administration user interface, or through secure shell (SSH).
Bond member A bond member is one of two or more NICs combined to provide high availability. A Bonding interface acts as the combination.
Bridge member A bridge member is one of two or more NICs that bridge separate network zones together. A Bridge interface acts as the connection among NICs.
Heartbeat interface

Within high availability, or failover configurations, heartbeat interfaces poll each other to make sure that the failover system is functioning.

Note: To make use of a heartbeat interface, you need a Unified Threat Management license.
Mode

The mode that determines the behavior of how the bonded interfaces run.

Mode Description
Active backup Only one slave is active in this band, and another one will act only when the other fails. The MAC address of this bond is available only on the network adapter part to avoid confusing the switch. This mode also provides fault tolerance.
Round Robin Transmits packets in sequential order from the first available interface to the next. This mode provides load balancing and fault tolerance.
Balance XOR This mode sets an XOR (exclusive or) mode that is the source MAC address is XOR’d with destination MAC address for providing load balancing and fault tolerance. Each destination MAC address the same slave is selected.
Broadcast This method is based on broadcast policy that is it transmitted everything on all slave interfaces. It provides fault tolerance. This can be used only for specific purposes.
Dynamic Link Aggregation (802.3ad) This mode has it created aggregation groups having same speed. It needs a switch that supports IEEE 802.3ad dynamic link. The slave selection for outgoing traffic is done based on a transmit hashing method. This might be changed from the XOR method via the xmit_hash_policy option.
Adaptive Transmit Load Balancing The outgoing traffic is distributed based on the current load on each slave and the incoming traffic is received by the current slave. If the incoming traffic fails, the failed receiving slave is replaced by the MAC address of another slave. This mode does not need any special switch support.
Adaptive Load Balancing This mode does not need any special switch support.
Bridge interface The parent bridging interface.
Default IP address The default IP address for this bridge.
MAC The MAC address for this bonded interface is taken from the MAC address of the Port selected earlier. The MAC address for spoofing.
Comment An optional comment for this external interface.

VLAN

Parent interface The interface to bind this VLAN to.
VLAN tag The VLAN tag for this VLAN.
Use as How the connection is being used. The options on the dialog box update with your selection, see the options available in the Bonding section of this topic.
Default IP address The default IP address for this bridge.
Bridge interface The parent bridging interface.
Spoof MAC The MAC address for spoofing.
Comment An optional comment for this external interface.

Bridge

Ports The relevant Smoothwall ports to be used as bridge members. If the port is already in use, it's unavailable for selection.
Use as How the connection is being used. The options on the dialog box update with your selection, see the options available in the Bonding section of this topic.
Default IP address The default IP address for this bridge.
MAC The MAC address for this bridge is taken from the MAC address of the Port selected earlier. The MAC address for spoofing.
Comment An optional comment for this external interface.

PPPoE

Parent interface The interface to bind the PPPoE connection to.
Username The username supplied by your ISP for this connection.
Password The password supplied by your ISP for this connection.
Confirm The same password. Do not copy and paste it from Password.
Bandwidth The minimum bandwidth used to load balance traffic from this connection across multiple gateways. Select whether the configured value is in kilobits per second (kbps), or in megabits per second (Mbps).
Connection monitoring Turns on the connection monitoring for this gateway. We don't recommend that you turn off this option. Otherwise, the Smoothwall Filter and Firewall always assumes the gateway always has a connection to the Internet.
MTU The Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU) size, in bytes, for packets using this connection.
Advanced » Displays the Service and Concentrator options.
Service The service name as specified by your ISP.
Concentrator The concentrator name as specified by your ISP.
Comment Enter an optional comment for this external interface.