USB Ethernet adapter

[David Wadson]

On 16-Jan-05, at 12:05 PM, Derick Centeno wrote:

>> we are currently looking to buy a small box as a router/firewall/VPN
>> gateway for our small office (4 computers). We have been looking into
>> miniITX solutions, but the new Mac Mini seems to be the best option 
>> for
>> speed, price, and size. It only lacks a second ethernet port
>>
> If you are looking to use YDL remember that you don't really want to go
> too far back as far as using older G4 or even G3 systems because there
> are unique hardware details to attend to.  In short, you may save cash
> yes, but time tweaking an older "Old World" or even old "New World"
> system may cost you time better spent just getting the mini in the 
> first
> place.
>

Actually, there really isn't any tweaking involved to get an OldWorld 
machine to run YDL as a router/firewall/VPN. I've got a Power Mac 
7300/180 doing just that and it wasn't difficult to get it running 
Shorewall and StrongSwan. The biggest pain was building a kernel for 
the IPsec options. It wasn't difficult - just slow!

Now granted, the Mac mini has a much smaller form factor than a 7300 
type Mac, but if you've got some old boxes kicking around, it's a nice 
way to put them to use rather than just pitching them. I set up two 
Power Mac 7200/90 as VPN routers/firewalls for a couple of remote 
offices.

Dave