SonicOS 7.1 Objects
- SonicOS 7.1 Action Objects
- About SonicOS
- Match Objects
- Zones
- How Zones Work
- Default Zones
- Security Types
- Allow Interface Trust
- Effect of Wireless Controller Modes
- Zones Overview
- The Zones Page
- Adding a New Zone
- Adding a New Zone in Policy Mode
- Adding a New Zone in Classic Mode
- Configuring a Zone for Guest Access
- Configuring a Zone for Open Authentication and Social Login
- Configuring the WLAN Zone
- Configuring the RADIUS Server
- Configuring DPI-SSL Granular Control per Zone
- Enabling Automatic Redirection to the User-Policy Page
- Cloning a Zone
- Editing a Zone
- Deleting Custom Zones
- Addresses
- Addresses Page
- About UUIDs for Address Objects and Groups
- Working with Dynamic Address Objects
- Services
- URI Lists
- Schedules
- Dynamic Group
- Email Addresses
- Match Objects
- Countries
- Applications
- Web Categories
- Websites
- Match Patterns
- Custom Match
- Profile Objects
- Endpoint Security
- Bandwidth
- QoS Marking
- Content Filter
- DHCP Option
- DNS Filtering
- Block Page
- Anti-Spyware
- Gateway Anti-Virus
- Log and Alerts
- Intrusion Prevention
- AWS
- Action Profiles
- Security Action Profile
- DoS Action Profile
- Action Objects
- App Rule Actions
- Content Filter Actions
- Object viewer
- SonicWall Support
Key Features of Dynamic Address Objects
The term Dynamic Address Object (DAO) describes the underlying framework enabling address objects (AOs) of MAC and FQDN. By transforming AOs from static to dynamic structures, access rules can automatically respond to changes in the network.
Below table provides details and examples for DAOs.
Feature | Benefit |
---|---|
FQDN wildcard support |
FQDN address objects support wildcard entries, such as *.somedomainname.com, by first resolving the base domain name to all its defined host IP addresses, and then by constantly actively gleaning DNS responses as they pass through the firewall. For example, creating an FQDN AO for *.myspace.com will first use the DNS servers configured on the firewall to resolve myspace.com to 63.208.226.40, 63.208.226.41, 63.208.226.42, and 63.208.226.43 (as can be confirmed by nslookup myspace.com or equivalent). As most DNS servers do not allow zone transfers, it is typically not possible to automatically enumerate all the hosts in a domain. Instead, the firewall looks for DNS responses coming from sanctioned DNS servers as they traverse the firewall. So, if a host behind the firewall queries an external DNS server that is also a configured/defined DNS server on the firewall, the firewall parses the response to see if it matches the domain of any wildcard FQDN AOs.
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FQDN resolution using DNS | FQDN address objects are resolved using the DNS servers configured on the firewall in the NETWORK | DNS page. Since it is common for DNS entries to resolve to multiple IP addresses, the FQDN DAO resolution process retrieves all of the addresses to which a host name resolves, up to 256 entries per AO. In addition to resolving the FQDN to its IPs, the resolution process will also associate the entry’s TTL (time to live) as configured by the DNS administrator. TTL will then be honored to ensure the FQDN information does not become stale. |
MAC address resolution using live ARP cache data | When a node is detected on any of the firewall’s physical segments through the ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) mechanism, the firewall’s ARP cache is updated with that node’s MAC and IP address. When this update occurs, if a MAC address objects referencing that node’s MAC is present, it will instantly be updated with the resolved address pairing. When a node times out of the ARP cache due to disuse (for example, the host is no longer L2 connected to the firewall) the MAC AO will transition to an unresolved state. |
MAC address object multi-homing support | MAC AOs can be configured to support multi-homed nodes, where multi-homed refers to nodes with more than one IP address per physical interface. Up to 256 resolved entries are allowed per AO. This way, if a single MAC address resolves to multiple IPs, all of the IP will be applicable to the access rules, etc., that refer to the MAC AO. |
Automatic and manual refresh processes | MAC AO entries are automatically synchronized to the firewall’s ARP cache, and FQDN AO entries abide by DNS entry TTL values, ensuring that the resolved values are always fresh. In addition to these automatic update processes, manual Refresh and Purge capabilities are provided for individual DAOs, or for all defined DAOs. |
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