Linux Router

[Eric Dunbar]

On 7/26/05, Conaire Mullins <iconan at rogers.com> wrote:
> The Equipment: One Power Mac 7500 upgraded to G3-300
> 
> The Idea: Take said Power Mac, install 2 new 10/100 NIC's and Yellowdog
> to create a router to replace a Linksys router that I currently use.
> 
<snip> 
> The Big Question(s): Is this a good idea?  Is it even feasible?  If so
> any idea of what NIC's I should throw in?  Has anyone read said book
> and if so is it still usable and though out of date should I get a
> copy?  Any other pointers from anyone?

Well, whether or not it's a good idea is your call. Feasible it
definitely is! As for the book... doubt it's useful anymore. I'd
follow the instructions provided earlier today in this thread.

But, I'd challenge you as to *why* you need or want the router. If
it's merely to function as a *router* then I ask you: why bother? You
have a perfectly functional stand-alone router, and, it takes up a
*lot* less room than a 7500!

If you'd like to run a firewall -- I'd ask why you need to run a
firewall. Do you just have a user Mac OS X machine or two on your LAN?
If so, they it's a pointless exercise since user Mac and Linux
machines are pretty well attack proof (yeah, I'm sure there are some
Linux fan(atics) that'll claim that OS X is "weak" on security but
that's a pile of FUD worthy of MS).

If you're running web accessible servers (SMB, http, AFS, etc.) you
*may* want to run a firewall, ESPECIALLY if you're running ssh or
telnet services on one or more of your machines.

Of course, I run my web (http) server with only the fake "firewall"
effect provided by my router. The only services visible to the
internet world is now on port 80 (http) and WebMin on port CENSORED
;-) and ssh and telnet are only locally accessible from my LAN (I have
to explicitly tell my router to do "port forwarding" to be able to run
internet accessible network services).

Anyway, if you're doing this as an exercise to learn, I'd encourage
you to do it. If you're doing this to be used only as a tool... don't
bother. It'll cause you more grief than it's worth (in the long run).

Eric.