# NIC-based Firewall

Activate and configure a [<mark style="color:blue;">Firewall</mark>](https://docs.ionos.com/cloud/support/general-information/glossary-of-terms#firewall) for each Network Interface Card ([<mark style="color:blue;">NIC</mark>](https://docs.ionos.com/cloud/support/general-information/glossary-of-terms#nic)) to better protect your servers from attacks. IONOS Cloud Firewalls can filter incoming (ingress), outgoing (egress), or bidirectional traffic. When configuring firewalls, define appropriate rules to filter traffic accordingly.

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**Note:** We recommend using [<mark style="color:blue;">Network Security Groups (NSGs)</mark>](https://docs.ionos.com/sections-test/guides/security/network-security-groups) for centralized and fine-grained firewall management in Virtual Data Centers (VDCs). It will enable you to control and monitor your network traffic efficiently.
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## Quick Links

<table data-view="cards"><thead><tr><th></th><th></th><th data-hidden data-card-target data-type="content-ref"></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><mark style="color:blue;"><strong>How-Tos</strong></mark></td><td>Learn how to enable and manage firewall protection on your NICs to filter incoming, outgoing, or bidirectional traffic.</td><td><a href="firewall/how-tos">how-tos</a></td></tr></tbody></table>