Re: LAN Firewalling

[Chris Hellyar]

Hi-ho,   If you don't want to enable any in-bound connections through your ADSL router you should not need a firewall.   Most (All) ADSL routers use NAT / masquerading and as long as you don't compromise the inherent security in that by using 'pinholes' or by statically mapping ports on the router, there is no real need for a dedicated firewall.   Having said that, you might want to do it for the education...  You could also run a squid proxy on your Linux machine for the other clients, which would speed up surfing to sites you visit often, and cut down on your internet traffic.   If you decide you want to build a firewall for the experience, or because you want to do inbound connections, it will have to live between the router and switch with two network cards.   Hope that helps..........     ----- Original Message ----- From: Justin Soong Hello guys,   I am planning to home network serveral Windows Computers @ my home. I'll be using a ADSL router and a switch to share a connection.   Will I be able to use a Linux computer as a firewall for the Windows Machines? I'm new to Linux and can someone explain how this firewalling business works. If you have experience can you tell be whether the firewall server would be part of the network or before the hub/switch.   Thanks   Justin (keep warm)brrrrrr..........