1. A firewall system for interconnecting a first Internet Protocol (IP) network employing a first firewall function to a second IP network employing a second firewall function, comprising:
a console port for receiving one or more filtering rules for updating said first firewall function or said second firewall function;
control means in communication with said console port;
a firewall device in communication with the console port, said firewall device comprising a filtering means for performing both the first firewall function and the second firewall function, and for transmitting said one or more filtering rules, wherein the filtering means comprises a first filtering unit for performing the first filtering function and a second filtering unit for performing the second firewall function; and
a second network address translation unit interconnected between the second IP network and the second filtering unit for changing a destination IP address of a packet transmitted to the second IP network and for changing a source IP address of a packet received from the second IP network.
2. The firewall system of claim 1, further comprising:
an IP gateway interconnected between the first filtering unit and the second filtering unit for determining one or more routing rules to be applied to data packets; and
a routing control point in communication with the IP gateway for providing said one or more routing rules.
3. The firewall system of claim 1, further comprising:
a first IP gateway in communication with the first IP network for retrieving one or more routing rules from a first routing control point, and a second IP gateway in communication with the second IP network for retrieving one or more routing rules from a second routing control point.
4. The firewall system of claim 3, wherein said control means includes a common control unit connected to the console port for identifying an administrator entering said one or more filtering rules through the console port, and a first control unit and a second control unit respectively in communication with the first and second IP networks, for managing said one or more filtering rules.
5. The firewall system of claim 4, further comprising:
a merge unit connected to the first control unit and to the second control unit for determining whether a rule entered by an administrator is redundant with respect to one of the rules entered by another administrator.
6. The firewall system of claim 5, wherein the merge unit determines whether to merge two rules when the two rules correspond to a same action, a same protocol, a same port number, or when there is an overlapping source address andor destination address.
7. The firewall system of claim 6, wherein the merge unit determines whether said two rules are identical and if so, transmits one of the two rules to a common rule configuration file to be used as a filtering rule for both the first and second firewall functions.
8. The firewall system of claim 7, wherein the merge unit determines whether one of two rules is included in the other rule, when the rules are not identical and if so, transmits the included rule to the common rule configuration file.
9. The firewall system of claim 8, wherein a tag is added to each rule before sending the rule to the common rule configuration file, the tag being used to identify a type of rule as determined by the merge unit.
10. The firewall system of claim 9, wherein the merge unit compares a rule entered by the administrator with a subsequent rule entered by the another administrator when the merge unit decides not to merge the two rules and stops comparing when the merge unit decides to merge the rules.
11. The firewall system of claim 10, wherein the firewall device comprises a first firewall device and a second firewall device which are functionally identical for processing respectively data packets in a data path from the first IP network to the second IP network and the data packets in the data path from the second IP network and the first IP network.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A seal assembly for closing off an annular space between a first and second body and supported by at least one of said first and second bodies, comprising:
an annularly shaped body having an upper and a lower end;
at least one backup ring mounted on one of said ends of said body and having a relaxed dimension greater than the annular gap between said first and second bodies so that opposed ends on said backup ring must be compressed to be inserted in the annular gap, said backup ring further comprising a bend between said opposed ends to store a force created by insertion of said backup ring into the annular space and apply said force on said opposed ends against said first and second bodies.
2. The assembly of claim 1, wherein:
said body urges said ends away from each other.
3. The assembly of claim 1, wherein:
said ends loop toward each other.
4. The assembly of claim 1, wherein:
said body comprises at least one first ring in a first groove.
5. The assembly of claim 4, wherein:
the circumference of said first ring exceeds the circumference of said first groove.
6. The assembly of claim 5, wherein:
said first ring, when placed in contact with one of said first and second bodies, deforms in a manner so as to force said ends of said backup ring away from each other.
7. The assembly of claim 5, wherein:
said first ring circumference is in the range of at least about 8-15% greater than said groove in which it is installed.
8. The assembly of claim 5, wherein:
said first ring is made from a material having a Durometer hardness of about 56-85.
9. The assembly of claim 5, wherein:
said first ring contacts the one of said first and second bodies with the smaller dimension.
10. The assembly of claim 4, wherein:
said first ring contacts the one of said first and second bodies with the larger dimension;
said first ring has a circumference that is shorter than the circumference of said first groove.
11. The assembly of claim 10, wherein:
the circumference of said first ring in the range of about 6-20% shorter than the circumference of said first groove.
12. The assembly of claim 4, wherein:
said first ring contacts the one of said first and second bodies with the larger dimension;
said first ring, when said body is installed in the annular gap, is in an interference fit with said one of said first and second bodies to an extent of at least about 20% of the cross-sectional diameter of said first ring.
13. The assembly of claim 12, wherein:
said first ring is made from a material having a Durometer hardness of about 56-85.
14. The assembly of claim 5, wherein:
said body further comprises at least one second ring in a second groove disposed on the opposite side of said body from said first ring;
said second ring contacts the one of said first and second bodies with the larger dimension;
said second ring, when said body is installed in the annular gap, is in an interference fit with said one of said first and second bodies to an extent of at least about 20% of the cross-sectional diameter of said second ring.
15. The assembly of claim 14, wherein:
said first ring is made from a material having a Durometer hardness of about 56-85.
16. The assembly of claim 6, wherein:
said body has a longitudinal axis and said deformation results in said first ring deforming into an undulating wave pattern in an axial direction parallel to said longitudinal axis.
17. The assembly of claim 5, wherein:
said body further comprises at least one second ring in a second groove disposed on the opposite side of said body from said first ring;
said second ring contacts the one of said first and second bodies with the larger dimension;
said second ring has a circumference that is shorter than the circumference of said first groove.
18. The assembly of claim 17, wherein:
the circumference of said second ring in the range of about 6-20% shorter than the circumference of said first groove.
19. A seal assembly for closing off an annular space between a first and second body and supported by at least one of said first and second bodies, comprising:
an annularly shaped body having an upper and a lower end;
said body comprises at least one first ring in a first groove;
the circumference of said first ring exceeds the circumference of said first groove.
20. The assembly of claim 19, wherein:
said first ring circumference is in the range of at least about 8-15% greater than said groove in which it is installed.
21. The assembly of claim 20, wherein:
said body further comprises at least one second ring in a second groove disposed on the opposite side of said body from said first ring;
said second ring, when said body is installed in the annular gap, is in an interference fit with said one of said first and second bodies to an extent of at least about 20% of the cross-sectional diameter of said second ring.
22. The assembly of claim 21, wherein:
said first and second rings are made from a material having a Durometer hardness of about 56-85.
23. The assembly of claim 22, further comprising:
at least one backup ring mounted on one of said ends of said body and having a relaxed dimension greater than the annular gap between said first and second bodies so that opposed ends on said backup ring must be compressed to be inserted in the annular gap, said backup ring further comprising a bend between said opposed ends to store a force created by insertion of said backup ring into the annular space and apply said force on said opposed ends against said first and second bodies.
24. The assembly of claim 23, wherein:
said first ring, when placed in contact with one of said first and second bodies, deforms in a manner so as to force said ends of said backup ring away from each other.
25. The assembly of claim 24, wherein:
said first ring contacts the one of said first and second bodies with the smaller dimension;
said body has a longitudinal axis and said deformation results in said first ring deforming into an undulating wave pattern in an axial direction parallel to said longitudinal axis.