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Filter priority
Continuing the customs inspectors analogy, imagine the 
inspectors lined up to examine a package. If the package 
matches the first inspector’s criteria, the package is either 
rejected or passed on to its destination, depending on the 
first inspector’s particular orders. In this case, the package 
is never seen by the remaining inspectors.
If the package does not match the first inspector’s criteria, 
it goes to the second inspector, and so on. You can see that 
the order of the inspectors in the line is very important.
For example, let’s say the first inspector’s orders are to 
send along all packages that come from Rome, and the sec-
ond inspector’s orders are to reject all packages that come 
from France. If a package arrives from Rome, the first 
inspector sends it along without allowing the second inspec-
tor to see it. A package from Paris is ignored by the first 
inspector, rejected by the second inspector, and never seen 
by the others. A package from London is ignored by the first 
two inspectors, so it’s seen by the third inspector.
In the same way, filter sets apply their filters in a particular 
order. The first filter applied can forward or discard a packet 
before that packet ever reaches any of the other filters. If the first filter can neither forward 
nor discard the packet (because it cannot match any criteria), the second filter has a 
chance to forward or reject it, and so on. Because of this hierarchical structure, each filter 
is said to have a priority. The first filter has the highest priority, and the last filter has the 
lowest priority.
How individual filters work
As described above, a filter applies criteria to an IP packet and then takes one of three 
actions:
•
Forwards the packet to the local or remote network
•
Blocks (discards) the packet
•
Ignores the packet
A filter forwards or blocks a packet only if it finds a match after applying its criteria. When 
no match occurs, the filter ignores the packet.
packet
first
filter
match?
yes
forward
discard?
to network
discard
(delete)
forward
no
to next
filter
send
or