Re: fedora as a gateway / server

[John bowden <j-alan btconnect com>]

On Wednesday 30 May 2007 05:48:32 Tim wrote:
> On Tue, 2007-05-29 at 17:23 -0400,
>
> Michael Coll-Barth VerizonWireless com wrote:
> > I have built a small network at home for the family using five windows
> > boxes and one Linux box.  Currently, everything plugs into a DSL Modem
> > for Internet connectivity.
> >
> > I would like to change this to have a Linux box ( Pentium II )
> > residential serve as a gateway to provide firewall and proxy services.
> > I suppose that it will also need to behave as a DHCP server?
>
> Only if you want it to.  If you already have a DHCP server that you're
> happy with, you can use that, instead.  And if your new Linux box sits
> between it and the rest of the LAN, you can set it up as a DHCP relay.
>
> > Will it need a second NIC installed that will attach to a hub for the
> > other boxes?
>
> Yes, if you want it to act as a firewall.  It can't do that unless it's
> in between the LAN and the rest of the world.
>
> Other functions like being a server or proxy don't require it, they can
> just be on the same network.
>
> > In addition, it would be nice to have another Linux box (Pentium III)
> > acting as a web/db/file server.  I plan to use Apache and Oracle for
> > this.
>
> You can run a server on the same machine, but it's generally a bad idea
> to make a firewall dual-purpose.  An exploit in one of the other
> services could be used to kill the firewall.  Stand-alone firewalls are
> the most secure way to do it (whether they're a computer or a dedicated
> hardware box).
>
> > Is Samba still what I should use to store Windows files?
>
> Yes.
>
> > Is there a mature IIS 6 'clone' or drop in replacement out there?
>
> Depends what you mean by IIS, it's a suite of things.  Apache, is in my
> opinion, a better webserver that IIS is.  I haven't compared FTP
> servers, nor other things that IIS can do.
>
> --
> (This box runs FC6, my others run FC4 & FC5, in case that's
>  important to the thread.)
>
> Don't send private replies to my address, the mailbox is ignored.
> I read messages from the public lists.

Sorry to jump in so late but what DSL set up have you got. You might also like 
to have a look at smoothwall. Its designed to turn an old box into a 
dedicated fire wall. With 3 network cards you get the choice of running 
Internet accessible servers on their own sub net, well away from your 
internal network.  www.smoothwall.org (I think)

-- 
Guy Fawkes, the only man to enter the house's of parliment
with honest intentions, (he was going to blow them up!)
Registered Linux user number 414240