Web Proxy / Firewall

[Longman, Bill]

> I am completely new to Linux, never even touched it, but have 
> heard only
> great things. What I need to know is if YDL when I eventually 
> load it onto a
> Powermac G4...If I could use it as a web proxy / firewall. It 
> would go like
> so:
> ISP ---> DSL (router) ---> YDL (web proxy/firewall) --> LAN 
> (all on 1 subnet
> (windows, macs and printers). I need the option to FTP outbound and
> inbound..MSN messenger and AIM, and of course the internet and email.
> In a windows environment it would be one pc hooked to the 
> router with ISA
> ($5,999) and 2000 Server ($800) loaded on. And i'm assuming 
> clients will
> connect to it by internet connection sharing. I want to run away from
> windows.
> This will be my first of many questions if i decide to go with YDL.
> Thanks and appreciative for any help or advice.

Sue,

If cost is a problem, you can easily do this for about $300 with an ancient
x386 box, two NICs and a copy of FreeBSD. YDL is your choice only if you
really *really* wanna run it on a Mac. The YDL distro is quirky due to the
Mac requirements. The BSD derivatives are very powerful, have very low
footprints on memory and resources and are quite bulletproof. You can also
get by with RedHat or Mandrake for that matter, as they both come with proxy
and fw software. They, however, are more b l o a t e d than the BSDs.

Squid - caching web proxy
Firestarter or Shorewall - very easy to use firewall systems that are
basically front-ends for Linux's IP tables. I don't know if these are
available on BSD, however.

HTH,

Bill