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View Full Version : Firewalls, Gateways, DNS, DHCP, VPNs & Routers OH MY!



Nthline
04-05-2003, 08:00 PM
Ive seen a few posts where individuals are looking for one of the above solutions or how to do it. These things can be a nightmare to the new and the old in linux. So I offer a simple solution. SMOOTHWALL.


What Smoothwall is:

Smoothwall is all of the above in one package that runs by itself on an old pc. It handles your connection. Is a firewall, Gateway, DNS, DHCP, VPN, and rounter all in one package. It handles linux, Novell, Unix, and windows clients. The setup is pretty strait forward and simple enough (if you read the documentation) that even most newbies should be able to install it with ease.

So here is the link to get more info about this solution.
www.smoothwall.org

Here is a cost break down for my smoothwall.
old computer with 1 gig drive, p166, and 32 mb of ram $15
3 nic cards $60
download of smoothwall 1.0 (free)
burning of iso onto cd $0.40
total $75.40 US for a solution that with cisco would have cost over $3000

So I hope this helps and happy smoothin

Nthline

true1ever
04-05-2003, 10:09 PM
Can you install smoothwall on a PC without a hard drive?

RockMumbles
04-05-2003, 11:57 PM
Can you install smoothwall on a PC without a hard drive?
No! Smoothwall has to be installed to a hd, but it only takes 200 - 300 mb on the versions I've played with.

Freesco, frazierwall, and other lrp based routers will run off a floppy drive with 8-16mb of ram on a 486.

rock

(P.S. - I have used freesco, e-smith and smoothwall linux routers at home and in my office)

VeeDubb
04-06-2003, 01:19 AM
Wow, I'm going to DL and try this out now. I've had a lot of trouble setting up my home network and this looks VERY promising. I'll let you know how well it works for me.

ktheking
04-06-2003, 04:51 PM
I'm also using smoothwall.
For 2 years now.
Meanwhile a similar product has risen with a few more gizmo's.
Named IPCOP. (from the creators of smoothwall).
A interestign gizmo is : saving of usage settings to floppy and restoring
it at reinstall (which smoothwall has NOT - at least not the free version).
This routersoft is nevertheless tricky for usage with certain cablemodem
providers. (proxy-issues).
An IPCOP-KNOPPIX version should really be cool 8)

VeeDubb
04-06-2003, 06:50 PM
looks like this realy isn't wht I'm looking for because I cn't dedicate a machine. I want my dstop to do what smoothwall does, but I want it to be my main PC also.

Nthline
04-13-2003, 06:24 AM
Vee,
I would reccomend that if you can get a seperate little p100 or 166 system and get a smoothie up and running. they are stable reliabel and a hardware firewall is 100 times better than a software one. Now if ya cant afford the cash for an old system and 2 nics might I sugjest a bit of dumpster diving. I find so many old systems this way its not funny. sure maybe it takes 3 or 3 systems to make an actual working comp but hey its free right. Often times local comp stores willsell these systems for dirt cheap also. I just picked up 3 p166 32mb ram and 1 gig drives with nics for a gradn total of $30. Now just what am I gonna do with those? Well I was thinking cluster server and dedicating it to work on seti. Perhaps Ill toss my results on that project up sometime. Another place you might be abel to get good cheap parts is your local linux users group. Many towns have one.

Nthline

Nthline
04-23-2003, 07:49 AM
I'm also using smoothwall.
For 2 years now.
Meanwhile a similar product has risen with a few more gizmo's.
Named IPCOP. (from the creators of smoothwall).
A interestign gizmo is : saving of usage settings to floppy and restoring
it at reinstall (which smoothwall has NOT - at least not the free version).
This routersoft is nevertheless tricky for usage with certain cablemodem
providers. (proxy-issues).
An IPCOP-KNOPPIX version should really be cool 8)

Just a note here. I remember reading one of the old news clips from the smoothwall site and the founder of smooth wall stated that basically IPCOP just rewarped smoothie in a different face with a few minor addons. I do find it interesting that a small war has started out over this and also that many claim smoothie aint gonna go anywhere because you can also get a commercial version. Well seems thier posts are wrong as the smoothie team is still deving away and they continue to provide timely updates from .09.9 to the 2.0beta. In all each person has his/her own tastes and finds one thing easier for them to master. I guess that is the beauty of all the linux flavors out there.

Nthline

aay
04-23-2003, 05:10 PM
looks like this realy isn't wht I'm looking for because I cn't dedicate a machine. I want my dstop to do what smoothwall does, but I want it to be my main PC also.

VeeDubb,

I don't know where you live, but you might want to try a thrift store. Often times you can fine a machine at one of these places that will be perfect for this project for $20 or so.

I recently bought an old gateway K6 450mhz with a nice 17' monitor for $60 at one of these places. You can find good deals on stuff that people are otherwise throwing away or giving to the Goodwill or something.

rickenbacherus
04-29-2003, 04:40 PM
looks like this realy isn't wht I'm looking for because I cn't dedicate a machine. I want my dstop to do what smoothwall does, but I want it to be my main PC also.

If you want your desktop to be a gateway then you might like Firestarter http://firestarter.sourceforge.net/
It's 'mind-numbingly easy' just like your favorite boot loader GAG ;). This will set up a firewall AND get your ICS off to the races.

IMHO I really don't care for Smoothwall because it must be installed to a hard drive (not to mention that the developer is kind of a jerk). The hard drive just one more place to get hacked. On the other hand a nice bootable floppy or cd distro that loads itself into a ramdisk is impervious to all of that. If a hacker does get in you just reboot and VOILA! you're back. Coyote Linux http://www.coyotelinux.com/is also very easy to build floppy based distro. I have built several Coyote routers, the one I currently use cost me about $15. Go to www.routerdesign.com for some more opinions on routers and some cool designs.

aay
05-02-2003, 04:05 PM
[quote=VeeDubb]looks like this realy isn't wht I'm looking for because I cn't dedicate a machine. I want my dstop to do what smoothwall does, but I want it to be my main PC also.

rickenbacherus,

I've used firestarter before and I never even noticed it's ICS abilities. That's cool. Thanks. Firestarter really is a nice program. Me thinks it should be on Knoppix :-)

rickenbacherus
05-02-2003, 06:09 PM
I've used firestarter before and I never even noticed it's ICS abilities.

IIRC it isn't made very obvious on their site that it does ICS. Actually I would never have know if someone had not pointed me to it as well.