Bare minimum?
386 4mb memory, one nic, linux (either your own home grown, or probably debian), and a
hub with atleast two ports.
Or, a more practical minimum:
Your 486 is fine, 500mb is plenty, 1 nic is required, it might be easier with two. If
you have only 1 nic, you must have a hub. If you use two nics, a hub isn't required
unless you expand beyond two computers (including the firewall).
Your 486 will be an Xless box. I'd suggest debian. The apt-get ability alone is
worth it. You can make a 2-floppy disk set, and setup and install your firewall over
the internet with Debian. It's very slick, and if you have access to UofO's
bandwidth, you won't want to even bother with CDs.
For my firewall, I have a pentium 75, 48mb memory, 540mb harddrive, two nics. You
won't even use most of the space on a 2.4gb. If you have a smaller harddrive, I'd say
use it.
You'll need to recompile your kernel to support ipmasquerading. You then need a
script (search for 'rc.firewall' on google or freshmeat, or I can send you one).
btw, Here's how to do it with only one nic.
Public and private IP addresses are on the same nic (ip aliasing, a kernel option).
Your ipchains rules (rc.firewall) masquerade from one to the other. Voila! To
ipchains, they are just IPs.
Other tips, get nmap (apt-get install nmap), scan yourself to see what you have open
(nmap 127.0.0.1), find and destroy the services you don't want available to everyone.
Get xinetd, a more secure replacement for inetd (apt-get install xinetd).
Get ssh, and disable telnet and ftp (apt-get install ssh)
Got Milk? (apt-get install milk)
Cory
On Wed, Nov 29, 2000 at 05:38:40PM -0600, Dragon Singer wrote:
> Hello fellows,
> I have a few questions for you.
> We will be getting hooked up to the University's LAN in about a
> month or so. For security reasons I'd like to set up a comp as a
> gateway instead of getting an IP for each comp my family owns. Will a
> 486 work for this job? What are the bare requirements for this gate.
> The 486 I'm looking at doesn't have a HD but I can take the 2.4 gig HD
> (The Linux HD on my current desktop) and swap it in. The gentleman I'm
> negotiating with says he'll sell me the box and a NIC for $85.00. Will
> I need two NIC cards? one for the ethernet connection into the gate
> and one to go to the hub? Any help would be appreciated.
>
>
>
> Sincerely and Respectfully Yours
>
> Wayne & Leader Dog Sequoia
>
> N9PSR FISTS #4409
> icq# 315313
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
