The Multi-Domain View

What can I do here?

The Multi Domain view is the management control center for Multi-Domain Security Management environments.

Use the Multi Domain view to:

Configure and manage Domains
Configure and manage Domain Management Servers
Define and manage policies for Domain Management Server Security Gateways and other objects
Define and manage Global Domains and Global policies
Configure and manage administrators and Permissions Profiles
Configure and manage trust for SmartConsole clients
Configure other Multi-Domain Security Management system parameters

Getting Here - SmartConsole for Multi-Domain Server > Multi Domain > Domains

The Multi-Domain Server

A Multi-Domain Server is a physical server that contains the Domain Management Servers, Security Policies, system data, and Multi-Domain Security Management system software. You connect to a Multi-Domain Server to work with Multi-Domain Security Management features, objects, and configuration settings. This includes:

Domain Management Servers and their configuration settings
Global Policies and objects
Administrators and permission profiles
Logs and monitoring features
System configuration settings

You can create a High Availability and/or Load Sharing deployment with two or more, synchronized Multi-Domain Servers.

Multi-Domain View

Use the Multi-Domain view to manage Multi-Domain Servers, Domains, system objects, configuration settings and other features. You must log into a Multi-Domain Server to see the Multi-Domain view.

For a guided tour of Multi-Domain view, click the What's New button at the bottom left of the window. Click the < and > icons to scroll between the different What's New screens.

Multi-Domain view elements

Item	Description
1	View, as selected from the Navigation Toolbar and View tree (This example shows the Multi-Domain > Domains view)
2	Navigation toolbar
3	Menu
4	View tree
5	Actions toolbar
6	Session Management toolbar
7	Validation tab
8	Logged in administrator
9	Server details area
10	Task information area
11	Management script commands and API

Domain Management Servers

A Domain is a virtual object that defines a network or a collection of networks related to an entity. You can define a Domain for a company, business unit, department, branch or geographical location. For example, a cloud service provider typically has one Domain for each customer. A bank can have one Domain for each geographical region, state, or country.

A Domain Management Server is the functional equivalent of a Security Management Server in a single-domain environment. You connect directly to a Domain Management Server with SmartConsole to manage a Domain and its components:

Domain Security Gateways
Domain Security Policies, rules, and other Domain level security settings
Domain system objects, such as services, users, and VPN Communities.
Domain Software Blades and their related configuration settings

To learn more about working with SmartConsole to manage Domains, see the Security Management Administration Guide.

There can be more than one Domain Management Server for a Domain in a High Availability deployment, each on a different Multi-Domain Server. One Domain Management Server is Active, and the other, fully synchronized Domain Management Servers are Standby.

Domain Log Servers

A typical Multi-Domain Security Management deployment includes, at least one Multi-Domain Log Server to hold log files generated by Domain Security Gateways. Each Domain can have its own Domain Log Server on the Multi-Domain Log Server. This deployment strategy keeps log traffic isolated from other network traffic for better throughput.

This illustration shows a sample deployment with two Multi-Domain Servers and two Domains. The Multi-Domain Log Server contains two Domain Log Servers, one for each Domain.

A	London Multi-Domain Server with an Active Domain Management Server for London and a Standby Domain Management Server for Tokyo
AA	London network
B	Tokyo Multi-Domain Server with an Active Domain Management Server for Tokyo and a Standby Domain Management Server for London
BB	Tokyo network
C	Multi-Domain Log Server with Domain Log Servers for London and Tokyo
	Active Domain Management Server
	Standby Domain Management Server
	Domain Log Server

Connecting to SmartConsole

Use SmartConsole to connect to a Multi-Domain Server when you work with Multi-Domain Security Management objects and settings. Use SmartConsole to connect to a Domain Management Server when you work with Domain Security Policies, rules, objects and configuration settings. You can also connect to Domains or specified Domain Management Servers from within the Multi-Domain view.

To connect to a Multi-Domain Server:

Run SmartConsole.
Enter your user name and password.
Enter the Multi-Domain Server IP address, and then click Login.
In the Welcome screen, select MDS from the list, and then click Proceed.
SmartConsole opens in the Domains view.

To connect directly to a Domain:

Run SmartConsole.
Enter your user name and password.
Enter the Multi-Domain Server IP address, and then click Login.
In the Welcome screen, select a Domain from the list, and then click Proceed.
SmartConsole opens with the selected Domain Management Server.

To connect to a Domain Management Server from the SmartConsole Multi-Domain view:

Connect to a Multi-Domain Server with SmartConsole.
In the Multi-Domain > Domains view, right-click the required Domain Management Server in the grid.
Select Connect to Domain Server.

Note - In a High Availability deployment, you can only make changes to a Domain from the active Domain Management Server. The active Domain Management Server shows with a black icon. If you connect to a standby Domain Management Server (white icon), SmartConsole opens in the Read Only mode.

Gateways & Servers View

The Gateways & Servers view shows all Security Gateway, Domain Management Server, and Domain Log Server objects in the Multi-Domain Security Management environment. This feature lets administrators, with applicable permissions, see and work with them in one convenient location.

You can double-click an object in this view to open its configuration window in the Domain's SmartConsole. For example, if you double-click, GW105 on the example below, the London_Server Domain Management Server opens in SmartConsole and shows the GW105 configuration window.

The Gateways & Servers view