How operation mode affects server policy behavior

Policy and protection profile behavior and supported features varies by the operation mode. (See also Supported features in each operation mode.)

The WCCP operation mode is similar to True Transparent Proxy, except web servers see the FortiWeb network interface IP address and not the IP address of the client.

Policy behavior by operation mode

	Operation mode
	Reverse Proxy	Offline Protection	True Transparent Proxy	Transparent Inspection
Matches by	Service Virtual server	Virtual server’s network interface, but not its IP address.	V-zone (bridge), but not its IP address.	V-zone (bridge), but not its IP address.
Violations	Blocked or modified, according to profile.	Attempts to block by mimicking the client or server and requesting to reset the connection; does not modify otherwise.	Blocked or modified, according to profile.	Attempts to block by mimicking the client or server and requesting to reset the connection; does not modify otherwise.
Profile support	Inline protection profiles Auto-learning profiles	Offline protection profiles Auto-learning profiles	Inline protection profiles Auto-learning profiles	Offline protection profiles Auto-learning profiles
SSL	Certificate used to offload SSL from the servers to FortiWeb; can optionally re-encrypt before forwarding to the destination server.	Certificate used to decrypt and scan only; does not act as an SSL origin or terminator.	Certificate used to decrypt and scan only; does not act as an SSL origin or terminator.	Certificate used to decrypt and scan only; does not act as an SSL origin or terminator.
Forwarding	Forwards to a server pool member using the port number where it listens; similar to a network address translation (NAT) policy on a general-purpose firewall. Can route connections to a specific server pool based on HTTP content.	Lets the traffic pass through to a server pool member, but does not load-balance.	Forwards to a server pool member (but allowing to pass through, without actively redistributing connections) using the port number where it listens.	Lets the traffic pass through to a member of a server pool, but does not load balance.

The way that FortiWeb determines which policy to apply to a connection varies by operation mode. The appliance applies only one policy to each connection.

If a TCP connection does not match any of the policies, FortiWeb either refuses the connection (if it is operating in reverse proxy mode) or denies the connection (if it is operating in other operation modes). Even if the TCP connection has a matching policy and is allowed, subsequently, if the HTTP/HTTPS request is not allowed by the policy’s profiles, it is considered to be in violation of the policy and the client may be blocked at the application (request) level or connection level, depending on the Action that you configure.

Policies are not applied while they are disabled. See Enabling or disabling a policy.

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