On Wed, 2009-04-01 at 20:37 -0700, Nifty Fedora Mitch wrote:
This is a 'bigger than a breadbox' topic....
Download some of the router documents that Cisco has on line
so you can understand what you want to do. All the foundation
stuff can be done in Linux and mostly the language is the
same even when the user interface differs.
Simplistic explanation....
A firewall will block or redirrect specific traffic comming in.
A gateway will direct, block or filter traffic going out.
Stick to IPv4 the public info on the net is richer.
To start block all traffic then open exactly one thing at
a time.
Me, I like having an inexpensive Linksys or Netgear box as the first
resource that touches the Internet. If I am consulting I specify
a small Cisco router... At home mine are all second hand used
cast off. I use them in NAT mode and have a DHCP address space as
well
as fixed addresses for my stable linux boxes. I never power up a
new
box (Linux or WindowZ) except behind a NAT box and the first thing I
do is an update to the OS and configure stuff.
Thanks Tom,
I'll check out Cisco's docs. At the moment I'm using a Linksys AG300.
It will do the basics of what I want with firewall and NAT, but I would
like to learn how to make Fedora do it as our SOHO network grows. I've
primarily used Fedora for getting work done over the years, now I want
to get under the bonnet and start tinkering. This Linux Networking
Cookbook that arrived yesterday is very useful, but I just need a few
gaps filling in along the way. There's another linux network security
book coming in a couple of weeks, so I can build on things some more.
Thanks again.
--
Regards,
Simon Slater
Registered Linux User #463789. Be counted at:
http://counter.li.org/