I used Smoothwall at one time, and it was only three days before it was hacked into pieces. Reinstall, same thing happened again. Hopefully they have upped their approach
to security a bit since then, which is now a couple of years ago. Switched back to IPcop, and never looked back.
You might find Endian Firewall, www.endian.com, very interesting. It does most if not all of the things you mention + the Community version is free. It is as easy to
install and set up as Smoothwall, if not easier. Exellent documentation, too.
Current version is 2.2. From version 2.3 it's supposed to have an IPS.
By default Endian allows only the usual stuff in outgoing communication, email, http, ftp, and so. Further rules can be added quite easily, since the web GUI is very
smooth and organized.
Please note that most *nix based firewalls using the Snort IDS in these weeks (or months) are updated to the new Snort engine, meaning new versions. I don't know if
Smoothwall does the same, but probably. Several are releasing new versions during September and October.
If it's for private use or for a school, Astaro (astaro.com) will throw a free
license your way.
/soren
Robert Martin Jr. wrote:
Anyone tried both of these and have any comparative info. Smoothwalls been
around for a while and has some good plugins so will be my top pick unless
there are some reasons pfsense would be better.
The firewall box I'm going to put together has to have
1) good QOS
2) handles VOIP well
3) handles P2P (torrent/emule) throttles correctly
4) good blacklist plugins
5) NIDS capability
Plus's would be
1) good filtering capability
2) timed rules
3) logging website use
Any feedback on either appreciated.
lopaka
