What type of information does a FortiGate firewall use to determine the direction of traffic?

A FortiGate firewall determines the direction of traffic primarily through session information and security policies. When traffic flows through the firewall, it establishes sessions that track the state of the network connections. Each session contains valuable information, such as source and destination IP addresses, ports, and the protocol being used.

Security policies that define the rules governing network traffic are also critical in this process. These policies specify which types of traffic are allowed or denied based on various criteria, including source and destination addresses, protocols, and ports. Therefore, when a packet arrives at the firewall, the device checks existing sessions and evaluates incoming traffic against these security policies to determine the appropriate handling and direction of that traffic.

While traffic patterns, network protocols, IP addresses, port numbers, and application data are all relevant to traffic analysis, the combination of session information and security policies is what explicitly informs the firewall's decisions on how to manage and direct traffic flow. This is a fundamental feature for maintaining effective security and performance within a network environment.