What is DMZ in networking?

Question

I have to configure a Java application which is hosted in side a corporate network. So what is DMZ and how to get through to expose the services?

Answer 1

DMZ (computing)

In computer security, a DMZ, or demilitarized zone is a physical or logical subnetwork that contains and exposes an organization's external services to a larger untrusted network, usually the Internet. The term is normally referred to as a DMZ by IT professionals. It is sometimes referred to as a Perimeter Network. The purpose of a DMZ is to add an additional layer of security to an organization's Local Area Network (LAN); an external attacker only has access to equipment in the DMZ, rather than any other part of the network.

Answer 2

The DMZ zone is an area of your local (home or corporate) network that is accessible from the outside (internet).

Typically, in home router there is a configuration that allows you to specify which computer (IP) is in the DMZ and the router will forward requests from the internet to that computer. That computer can then host services (http, ftp, ssh, ...) that will be available to the internet. Depending on the router, this will be more or less configurable.

In your case, I dont think that there anything special to do in the java application (other than binding the server socket on the right ip... if you have more than one which you probably don't). You will have to configure the corporate router (or ask IT) to add your computer to the DMZ. They will probably give you an external ip (matched to your computer internal ip) than can be used to access your service from the internet.