Aaron Binns wrote: > > Hello World, > > Ive got an old 386 machine - an SX I suspect thought I dont know for sure - with > 4meg ram, 20mge hdd, 5.25" and 3.5" floppy drives, ega & 8-bit soundblaster > card. I want to make this machine into a firewall for an up-coming cable or adsl > connection. It doesnt have to run any web proxy or mail server or squid cache - > just firewall between outside and inside. > > 1. Now, can you make a linux install on a 20mg drive on a 386 which will do > this? - and what distro is best suited for this? There are plenty of small distros about, but you'd be better off with a 486 or at least a 386DX. If you want to roll your own mini distro try a Debian small install without X - Under 40 Mb if I remember correctly. > 2. What networking cards should I get? (ISA? PCI? - assuming there are enough There are NO PCI slots on 386 motherboards, they came in after the VESA slots on the 486's > slots for each...) > 3. Where can I get these cards from? Try Granville (the market is part of the OZ design warehouse - you turn left at the second set of lights (coming from Parramatta on Parramatta Road) - the first set only let you turn right! And then turn right into the lane at the back of the warehouse (it's on the corner). There is a little parking at the back and the market is open 10-3 Saturday and Sunday I think. Or you could try North Rocks on Sunday, but it will be smaller than usual due to the constraints that Westfield put on the traders in the lead up to Christmas. > 4. Will doing this increase my Internet latency much if at all? Depends on your connection, Mine would to be an XT to be any slower ;-P > 5. Since the box doesnt have a cd-rom drive - would it be best to install off >floppies or do a network install? NFS install is easier than floppies. > 6. Is there anything else I will need that I havent mentioned? Patience > Cheers + TIA, > > Aaron Stay well and happy Heracles -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://slug.org.au/lists/listinfo/slug
