• SonicOS 7.1
• About SonicOS
  • Working with SonicOS
  • SonicOS Workflow
  • How to Use the SonicOS Administration Guides
  • Guide Conventions
• About Firewall
  • Firewall Workflow
• Advanced
  • Changing Between SonicOS
    • Changing From Classic to Policy Mode
    • Changing From Policy to Classic Mode
  • Detection Prevention
  • Dynamic Ports
  • Source Routed Packets
  • Internal VLAN
  • Access Rule Options
  • IP and UDP Checksum Enforcement
  • Jumbo Frame
  • Connections
  • Control Plane Flood Protection
  • IPv6 Advanced Configuration
  • TCP
    • TCP Settings
    • Layer 3 SYN Flood Protection- SYN Proxy
    • Layer 2 SYN/RST/FIN Flood Protection - MAC Blacklisting
    • WAN DDOS Protection (Non-TCP Floods)
    • TCP Traffic Statistics
  • UDP
    • UDP Settings
    • UDP Flood Protection
    • UDP Traffic Statistics
    • UDPV6 Traffic Statistics
  • ICMP
    • ICMP Flood Protection for IPv4 version
    • ICMP Traffic Statistics
    • ICMP Flood Protection for IPv6 version
    • ICMPv6 Traffic Statistics
• Flood Protection
• SSL Control
  • Key Features of SSL Control
  • Key Concepts to SSL Control
  • Caveats and Advisories
  • Configuring SSL Control
  • Custom List
  • Enabling SSL Control on Zones
  • SSL Control Events
• Cipher Control
  • TLS Ciphers
    • Blocking/Unblocking Ciphers
    • Filtering Ciphers
      • Selecting Display Options
      • Displaying Ciphers by Strength
      • Displaying Ciphers by Block/Unblock
      • Displaying Ciphers by CBC Mode
      • Displaying Ciphers by TLS Protocol Version
  • SSH Ciphers
• Real-Time Black List (RBL) Filter
  • Configuring the RBL Filter
    • Enabling RBL Blocking
    • Adding RBL Services
    • Configuring User-Defined SMTP Server Lists
      • Configuring a White List
      • Configuring a Black List
    • Testing SMTP IP Addresses
• Use cases

Connections

Any change to the Connections setting requires the SonicWall security appliance be restarted for the change to be implemented.

The Connections section provides the ability to fine-tune the firewall to prioritize for either optimal throughput or an increased number of simultaneous connections that are inspected by Deep-Packet Inspection (DPI) services.

A hardware platform may differ from another in the amount of memory available, which corresponds to the number of connections.

For specific SPI and DPI connection count maximums, refer to the latest SonicWall datasheet for your firewall platform:

• NSa Series - Datasheet at SonicWall NSa Series
• TZ Series - Datasheet at SonicWall TZ Series
• SuperMassive Series - Datasheet at SonicWall SuperMassive Series

Refer to the SonicWall resources page for more information about our Product Series. Search for high-end, mid-range, entry level, and virtual firewall details, such as Maximum connections (DPI SSL), from the By Product Series drop-down menu.

The maximum number of connections depends on the physical capabilities of the particular model of SonicWall security appliance. Flow Reporting does not reduce the connection count on NSa Series, NSA Series, and SuperMassive Series firewalls.

A table with the maximum number of connections for your specific SonicWall security appliance for the various configuration permutations is displayed below the Connections group.

To configure connection services:

1. Navigate to Network > Firewall > Advanced.

2. Scroll to Connections.

   

3. Choose the type services to be enabled/disabled. There is no change in the level of security protection provided by the DPI Connections settings.

   • Maximum SPI Connections (DPI services disabled) - This option (Stateful Packet Inspection) does not provide SonicWall DPI Security Services protection and optimizes the firewall for maximum number of connections with only stateful packet inspection enabled. This option should be used by networks that require only stateful packet inspection, which is not recommended for most SonicWall network security appliance deployments.

   • Maximum DPI Connections (DPI services enabled) - This is the recommended setting for most SonicWall network security appliance deployments. This option is selected by default.

   • DPI Connections (DPI services enabled with additional performance optimization) - This option is intended for performance critical deployments. This option trades off the number of maximum DPI connections for an increased firewall DPI inspection throughput.

   If either DPI Connections option is chosen and the DPI connection count is greater than 250,000, you can have the firewall resize the DPI connection and DPI-SSL counts dynamically.