Linux based n-way router?

[Frank Peng]

I have 3 Slackware 7.1 routers with Rogers and
Sympatico.

I just picked up some junk computers with 32MB and put
a junk CDROM on it and installed Slackware 7.1. 

Actually Slackware 3.3 will do the job and a computer
with 16M memory will work.

I did not set up DHCP. Each workstation just assign an
static IP address. Easy! Why bother with DHCP?

After I set them up, I put them in basement under
staircase or some where dark corner and I took the
monitor and CDROM away. 

They just kept working for me for years. Rats and bugs
are doing the administor's job!

Frank Peng.


--- Scott Allen <scotta-cpI+UMyWUv9BDgjK7y7TUQ at public.gmane.org> wrote:

> 
> The IS department of the company I work for is
> looking into revamping 
> our ancient network setup. They would like to put
> each department on 
> its own IP network (all private addresses). The
> department networks 
> would each be routed to a backbone network
> containing servers. The 
> department networks would be 100MB ethernet and the
> backbone would be 
> 1GB ethernet. There would also have to be some
> restricted access from 
> some deparment networks to others.
> 
> Rather than using individual routers for each
> network link, I've 
> suggested using a single box, with the required 5 to
> 8 ethernet 
> interfaces, to do all the routing and firewalling.
> I'm thinking that 
> this could be a linux based PC with one or two quad
> port ethernet 
> adapters. The ethernet adapters would only have to
> be 100MB if the 
> motherboard had a Gigabit interface.
> 
> I'm thinking of using Slackware Linux and the
> FireHOL iptables 
> generator script, since my experience with both has
> been quite 
> positive. FireHOL looks like it would make it easy
> to set up and 
> maintain all the "virtual" routers required (see: 
> <http://firehol.sourceforge.net/> ).
> 
> We would like to have all workstations configured
> from a DHCP server 
> (plus whatever Windows domain configuration is
> required) on the 
> backbone. This means the router whould have to be a
> DHCP relay agent 
> (and more?).
> 
> Note that a separate router/firewall (possibly based
> on the same 
> software) would link the backbone servers to the
> real internet as 
> required.
> 
> So, does this look to be possible and is it a good
> idea, or am I 
> crazy for
> suggesting it?
> 
> Has anyone attempted anything similar?
> 
> Any suggestions on what hardware would be required?
> There seems to be 
> a few sources of quad and 6 port ethernet adapters,
> and I've read 
> that at least Intel and D-Link ones have Linux
> drivers.
> 
> Thanks for the feedback,
> Scott Allen
> 
> 
> -- 
> ** Scott Allen   scotta-cpI+UMyWUv9BDgjK7y7TUQ at public.gmane.org **
> **     Toronto, Ontario, Canada     **
> --
> The Toronto Linux Users Group.      Meetings:
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