Working with Applications and Connections

All network applications require connectivity between network resources. Some applications require many different types of connectivity in order to work.

For example, a basic website can require connectivity:

From the internet to a web server over HTTP
From the web server to a database server over specific ports

If any of these connections is blocked by a firewall, users cannot access the website. The business owner can keep a list of all of the required connectivity, but cannot create a detailed set of instructions for implementing the connectivity in the firewalls. The network and security teams can analyze the locations of each server to decide which firewalls need to have rules to allow the connectivity, but they cannot easily manage all of the firewall rules to make sure they are all maintained correctly.

Managing Applications and Connections

The SecureApp menu includes these features that you can use to manage your applications and connections:

Applications displays the inventory of applications.
Server Lookup lets you search for a server and see all the server connections and groups.
Cloud Console lets you manage all cloud resources that are not associated with a SecureApp application.

If multi-domain mode is enabled, the SecureApp menu includes:

Home displays the inventory of applications and application packs in the default domain.
Customers displays the customer list. Select a specific customer to view the inventory of applications and application packs that belong to the customer.
Server Lookup lets you search for a server and see all the server connections and groups.
Cloud Console lets you manage all cloud resources that are not associated with a SecureApp application.

Applications

In SecureApp, the business owner keeps a list of all of their applications with the required connectivity for each application. The connectivity is defined in terms that are easy for the business owner to provide. SecureApp translates the connectivity into terms that are easy for the technical teams to implement. The business owner can publish relevant application connections,making them available for re-use by other users.

To define application connectivity:

Define a new application.
Define the resources (servers, services and users) that the application requires.
Create a new connection and add the resources to the connection.
Create a ticket in SecureChange to request that the firewall/network team allow access for the connection.
(optional) Publish the connections to make them available for reuse by other users.
Monitor the connection.