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 invent.
Access lists can even be used in situations that don’t necessarily involve blocking packets. For example, you can use them to control which networks will or won’t be advertised by dynamic routing protocols. How you configure the access list is the same. The difference here is simply how you apply it—to a routing protocol instead of an interface. When you apply an access list in this way, it’s called a distribute list, and it doesn’t stop routing advertisements, it just controls their content. You can also use access lists to categorize packets for queuing or QoS-type services and for controlling which types of traffic can activate a pricey ISDN link.