Iptables NAT with windows servers (netbios ?)

[Eucke]

redhat at buglecreek.com wrote:

>Here is the setup I would like to use:  I am using a Redhat 3 box to
>firewall and nat an internal network with both Windows and Linux
>clients.  The windows clients need to be able to login and see their
>drives on a windows server that is located on another network on the
>other side on the Linux box.  The natting seems to work find (all
>clients can browse the Internet), however when the windows clients log
>in and then try to access their drives on the server in the other
>network all they see is their local drive.  No error is shown during the
>login.  Is there a way to get this to work through the Linux box?  I
>have seen people mention to nat everything but the netbios traffic ( not
>sure about that).  Also, there is the LMHOSTS file, is that a possible
>solution?  I'm not very familiar with windows, so this is really
>challenging me.  Hopefully, the diagram below will further clarify.
>Also,
>it is desired to keep the Windows server in its present location.
>
>202.x.x.x            eth0                eth1          192.168.x.x
>windows server ----- Linux Box (NAT/Firewall) --------win/linux clients
>
>Thank You
>
>  
>
You did not mention any use other than that of a router/firewall...  
Just a suggestion but why go through the trouble of installing RH3?  Why 
not a purpose built kernel specifically tailored for router/firewall 
duty?  I use Smoothwall Express.  It has an active community (just as 
with RH) and is purpose-built for the task you're looking for.  You can 
have it running inside of 20 minutes and it's pretty solid.  I have a 
couple of places where I have manually adjusted mine to suit certain 
needs (Multiple external IP addresses and Full Firewall Control)  but it 
runs very nicely.  I can give you more info offlist if you like.

-- 
Eucke