os1,

thank you for that simple breakdown, i think that more than anything i get caught up in the numbers, and confuse myself beyond what i think i need to be. taking that example one step further, is it wise to do any type of port forwarding (ie, 'conduit permit tcp [port] any any') type of commands in a Router configuration or is that better left for a separate firewall configuration, OR am i being a complete id10t and those are apples and oranges?

thank you for your enlightment, appreciate your time

-java