CCNA® Cisco Certified Network Associate: Study Guide, Seventh Edition

Introduction to Access Lists

An access list is essentially a list of conditions that categorize packets. They can be really helpful when you need to exercise control over network traffic. An access list would be your tool of choice for decision making in these situations.

One of the most common and easiest-to-understand uses of access lists is filtering unwanted packets when implementing security policies. For example, you can set them up to make very specific decisions about regulating traffic patterns so that they’ll allow only certain hosts to access web resources on the Internet while restricting others. With the right combination of access lists, network managers arm themselves with the power to enforce nearly any security policy they can ...