What is ICS (Internet Connection Sharing)

ICS (Internet Connection Sharing)

It is default feature of Windows 98 II^nd edition and higher versions and can be use in workgroup also.

It is use to share Internet connection, it is slow, it use dialup connection, it can be use for small network, we cannot use DHCP server and maximum 253 clients are possible because Network ID is always 192.168.0.0

Nowadays, we can use any network ID.

NAT (Network Address Translation)

It is use to share Internet connection, it is mostly configure on Router but we can also configure on Windows server. It can also be use in the workgroup network. It is lease line connection, it is faster, we can use any network ID, we can use DHCP server, no limit for the number of clients and it can be use in very large network. It is use to manage IP addressing , to save IP address etc.

We need 2 NICs in NAT server.

Proxy Server

It is a software use to share Internet connection and for Internet security. It can be install on client OS also in the workgroup network or domain network.  We can apply GPO for automatic configuration in the client machine for the domain network.

Proxy server can check the websites which are browse in our network and we can also block particular URLs.

Example :-  ccproxy, WinGate, Win Proxy, Web Proxy, WebSense, MS-Proxy etc.