hardware FIREWALL

[trapper]

i have a p 200 mmx and all that makes it a pc stripped in the cupboard but have been thinking about setting it up to be a firewall for the 2 rigs in the house as software firewalls are great but take up space that i could use , do i just add the rig to my network and make it the gateway and install all the s/ware on that machine and use it for nothing x-cept a firewall running say ZApro and tiny PF and an AV???
surely there is more to it than what i can think of.TIA respect trapper
:)

[trapper]

just had 2 put this post back up top as someone surely must beable to help me here.........................

[rugby]

There are some linux distros that run off a floppy you could use for your firewall. I've tried it before and had good luck, but cannot remember the distro.

[trapper]

ill look around and let ya know .....ta

[Shep]

The linux distro's are coyote linux and freesco and I think there are some others but I haven't tried them. I use coyote linux and have had good luck with it. You can set it up to stealth all your ports block pings and use it as a router. you can check out coyote at www.coyotelinux.com and freesco at www.freesco.org

[trapper]

EXCUSE MY IGNORANCE

is all this linux distro software relevant as i am on a windoze platform?

[rugby]

Well, if you want to use it as an exclusive firewall/router then yes this linux stuff applies to you. If you only want to share an Internet connection then no it doesn't mean anything to you.

[Twyst]

Do all 3 computers see each other when 1 is Linux and the other 2 are Windows? How do they communicate? Could ya paint me a picture please :). I'd like to do pretty much the same setup with my extra rig.

[trapper]

Originally posted by rugby
Well, if you want to use it as an exclusive firewall/router then yes this linux stuff applies to you. If you only want to share an Internet connection then no it doesn't mean anything to you.

yeah this is relevant as i want it standalone firewall (basically)

[touser]

what you want is smoothwall, www.smoothwall.org it basically turns the pc you put it on into a full blown hardware firewall, nothing more, nothing less. i run one myself and it is excellent! as well as free and very simple to use. if you would like to talk to some people who use it check out the irc channel @ irc.smoothwall.org #smoothwall i am also there daily to provide as much help as i can :)
*edit*
i forgot to mention it also acts like a router as well :)

[PolyPill]

To have a windows server act as a firewall/gateway is network suicide. Horrible. Although it's a home network so you can probably get by with it. I think your best bet would be to get one of those linux floppies that were mentioned above.

They're pretty easy to get set up.

[rugby]

I once used ICS on my win2k box to my Mac and I came home from work and the pc was stuck on it's bios screen. The hard drive had been erased completely. Needless to say I went and bought a router.



Originally posted by PolyPill
To have a windows server act as a firewall/gateway is network suicide. Horrible. Although it's a home network so you can probably get by with it. I think your best bet would be to get one of those linux floppies that were mentioned above.

They're pretty easy to get set up.