server 2008 r2 - did you DISABLE the windows firewall ?

[troyquigley]

our network is behind a hardware firewall.
is there any reason to NOT disable the windows server 2008 r2 software firewall.

i thought it was usually bad form to have 2 firewalls going.

 

[Tee]

I will just say it's a server you shouldn't turn it off. That's about as simple as i can put it

It is going to leave the machine open to vulnerabilities and exploits. no good!

 

[nessus]

Software firewalls running internally protect you from internal network threats, ie infected end user workstations, etc. Two firewalls back to back is not a bad idea.

Two layers of NAT back to back are a bad idea. Typically home router/firewalls are NAT devices which is why it isn't recommended to layer them on top of each other.

 

[xenios]

our network is behind a hardware firewall.
is there any reason to NOT disable the windows server 2008 r2 software firewall.

i thought it was usually bad form to have 2 firewalls going.

That would be a big hell yes, keep it on. We go as far as specifying specific subnets for each exception.

 

[troyquigley]

thx gentlemen.
i just wanted to make sure i was going in the right direction for my network security.
i will leave it on then.

the reason why i asked.
i found a technet article that was saying to turn off the windows firewall when installing rras or something like that. geez, now i forget which one it was exactly.

 

[RiDDLeRThC]

It's always been my best practices to leave firewalls enabled on both workstations and servers.

Add's a little extra work because you sometimes may have to open ports up on your network firewall and on the local server level but as others have said, this will help if you were to have an issue inside your network.