A "firewall" is a security barrier between a computer or network and the Internet. It prevents viruses, worms and other virulent creatures from gaining access to your computer. The firewall can be installed as a software package on your computer (a "personal firewall"), or it can be located in a separate firewall computer or router in a network.

 

Personal firewalls

Firewalls like Symantec's Internet Security or ZoneAlarm protect individual computers. The first time you access the Playchess server, the firewall asks for permission to make the connection. You can configure a rule that allows it to access the server in the future without asking for permission each time. The permission is only for this one application and does not compromise your firewall security in any way.

 

Network firewalls

If you are connected to a network with a special firewall computer, it may be necessary for the network administrator to configure the firewall so you can access Playchess.com.

 

 

The administrator will need to release "Port 6002" for the addresses www.playchess.com (the alternate server). You can easily find the IP address of the server with the command ping playchess.com.