D-Link NetDefendOS, User Manual

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3.8. Schedules
In some scenarios, it might be useful to control not only what functionality is enabled, but also
when that functionality is being used.
For instance, the IT policy of an enterprise might stipulate that web traffic from a certain
department is only allowed access outside that department during normal office hours. Another
example might be that authentication using a specific VPN connection is only permitted on
weekdays before noon.
Schedule Objects
NetDefendOS addresses this requirement by providing Schedule objects (often referred to as
simply schedules ) that can be selected and used with various types of security policies to
accomplish time-based control.
Multiple Time Ranges
A Schedule object also offers the possibility to enter multiple time ranges for each day of the
week. Furthermore, a start and a stop date can be specified that will impose additional
constraints on the schedule. For instance, a schedule can be defined as Mondays and Tuesdays,
08:30 - 10:40 and 11:30 - 14:00, Fridays 14:30 - 17:00.
Schedule Parameters
Each schedule object consists of the following parameters:
Name The name of the schedule. This is used in user interface display and as a
reference to the schedule from other objects.
Scheduled Times These are the times during each week when the schedule is applied.
Times are specified as being to the nearest hour. A schedule is either
active or inactive during each hour of each day of a week.
Start Date If this option is used, it is the date after which this schedule object
becomes active.
End Date If this option is used, it is the date after which this schedule object is no
longer active.
Comment Any descriptive text that should be associated with the object.
This functionality is not limited to IP Rules, but is valid for most types of policies, including Traffic
Shaping rules, Intrusion Detection and Prevention (IDP) rules and Virtual Routing rules. including
Traffic Shaping rules and Intrusion Detection and Prevention (IDP) rules. A Schedule object is, in
other words, a very powerful component that can allow detailed regulation of when functions in
NetDefendOS are enabled or disabled.
Important: Set the system date and time
As schedules depend on an accurate system date and time, it is very important that the
system date and time are set correctly. This is also important for some other features
such as certificate usage in VPN tunnels.
Preferably, time synchronization has also been enabled to ensure that scheduled
Chapter 3: Fundamentals
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