Hello everyone. I’ve been evaluating our WatchGuard Firebox deployment for the last quarter, primarily focusing on security policy audits and VPN tunnel stability reports. As part of that, I wanted a clearer visual representation of our site-to-site VPN topology to share with our network team and for my own documentation.
I spent some time this week digging through Dimension, specifically the VPN Monitor section under the Traffic & Usage tab. While the table data is comprehensive, I found the built-in graphical view a bit limiting for a holistic overview. By using the mapping features and filtering for active site-to-site tunnels, I was able to generate a more tailored visualization.
Here is what I ended up with:
[Attached: VPN_Map_Screenshot.png]
**What the map shows:**
* All active branch office connections to our two data centers (represented as primary and secondary hubs).
* Tunnel status color-coded (green for active, which they all thankfully are at snapshot time).
* Each line is labeled with the corresponding firewall alias and the external IP of the peer gateway.
**My process and checks:**
* I verified each tunnel on the map against the live status in the Firebox System Manager to ensure Dimension’s data was current.
* Cross-referenced the firewall policy rules associated with each VPN to confirm the mapped traffic flows align with our intended security posture.
* I am considering using this as a baseline to document normal latency and traffic volume ranges for each link, which could help in future troubleshooting.
**A few questions for the community, especially those who use Dimension for reporting regularly:**
* Has anyone found a way to automatically generate a version of this map on a scheduled basis (e.g., weekly) and have it exported as a PDF? I’m thinking for compliance audit trails.
* Are there any other Dimension views or custom report templates you’ve created that are particularly useful for auditing VPN configurations or spotting potential misconfigurations?
* I’m cautious about data retention settings. Does anyone have recommendations on how long to keep this level of detailed VPN connection data in Dimension for operational vs. historical analysis without overwhelming the database?
I’m still relatively new to the WatchGuard ecosystem, so any insights or pitfalls you’ve encountered with this kind of visualization would be greatly appreciated. The goal is to have a clear, accurate, and maintainable single source of truth for these connections.
~Heidi