[Courses] [Security] Firewall theory -- UDP and nameservers

[Akkana]

hobbit wrote:
> > I gather 'firewall' is a military term originally, too. Never known
> > what it means in that context. I can't think of many things which

Nicole Fauquet writes:
>     Nope - it's a building term.  In apartment buildings (properly built

Also, in your car, the wall between the engine and the passenger
compartment is called the firewall, and it's insulated to keep heat and
fire from spreading from the engine in to where the passengers are.

I don't know which usage is older, probably the building term.
It doesn't seem to be listed in the OED.  If I run "dict firewall"
(dict is a wonderful program -- highly recommended! It has a list of
sources out on the web, including technical and jargon dictionaries so
you can look up technical terms), the first
definition from WordNet is:
       n 1: (informal) the application of maximum thrust; "he slammed
            the throttle to the firewall"
which is the automotive usage (in a front-engined vehicle, the firewall
is in front of the throttle control).

	...Akkana