At 9:16 AM -0700 4/25/00, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>I am using my new Pismo as my desktop computer and have just gotten DSL.
>However, in trying to establish "firewall" security I have found that I must
>connect my DSL line directly to my server computer. Unfortunately on
>the Pismo,
>I only have one Ethernet port, and because it does not have built-in SCSI, I
>can't add an Ethernet card for the direct DSL connection since I
>already have a
>SCSI card in my cardbus slot.
Keep in mind that the machine which acts as a firewall is exposed to
the outside world, because it's attached to an unfiltered network
connection. Only computers which connect to the Internet through a
firewall server get full security benefits. Since you're using the
Pismo for your desktop machine, you do actually want to use a
differet computer for a firewall.
>So, here's my question, what if I were to use my 2300 as a server? There is
>built-in Ethernet in the dock and I could easily add an Ethernet card in the
>Nubus slots. While I know I can do this, would there be any drawbacks? Would
>the DSL connection run slower since the 2300 is a much slower machine? Would
>the whole network run slower since everything is now routed through the 2300?
The 2300 should be fine as a firewall / router. You actually don't
need very much of a machine to do this kind of task; for instance a
486 with 16MB of memory running Linux can route packets between two
Ethernet cards at full 10Base-T wire speed. MacOS is less efficient
than Linux at this kind of thing, but with IPNetRouter a 2300 should
easily handle any routing load imposed by a DSL connection (which is
much slower than 10Base-T typically).
>The main drawback I see, is that the 2300 would have to be turned on all the
>time now.
If the cost of the software (IPNetRouter or Vicom Internet Gateway -
I recommend IPNR) plus the cost of the NuBus Ethernet card starts
approaching $150 or more, you might want to look at a DSL router
instead. They are dropping below $200, are probably easier to set up
than software like IPNR or Vicom, and are more convenient to leave on
all the time because they're just a little box which uses almost no
power. Just make sure the one you select supports routing, network
address translation (NAT), and firewall. If your DSL service
provider is using PPP over Ethernet (PPPoE), you need that feature in
the DSL router as well.
Tim Seufert
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