Best Way to Setup DSL at business

[aceman817]

i will be getting a DSL service and modem in my office in about a week or so. i need to figure out the best way to setup the connection. i have a windows nt server, a windows 2000 admin station, and 5 other 98 clients that use terminal services to connect to the nt server. i only want to have internet access on the server and the 2000 admin station. i also want to be able to setup a vpn with minivnc, pcanywhere, or another software title that will allow me to connect to the server from home and control all the stations on the network. is it best to add a nic card to the server, hook the modem up there with a crossover cable, and share the connection with a proxy app like analogx? if not, what else should i do. it is a very basic cat5 network running through an 8 port switch.

Thanks,
AL

 

[GeekDrew]

I would personally buy a firewall and stick it in between your DSL modem and the server, and then connect your server (dedicated NIC, I would assume) to the firewall. Then you can share the internet connection from the server with some kind of software, if you want to share it with workstations. IIRC, if you wanted it to, you could just have the server act as a router, too, so it will just pass packets between the NICs, if needed... no proxy needed. That said, most of the companies I've worked with use proxy servers (logging, caching, etc.).

 

[blemoine]

if you have an old pc just sitting around collecting dust. install IPCOP on it. it is a Linux Firewall/router/proxy server. you can get it at www.ipcop.org. its very easy to setup. you just need an old pc with two working nics. they have a bunch of free add ons.

 

[aceman817]

thanx for the reply guys. unfortunately i don't have an old PC sitting around that i can setup as a router. GeekDrew, what kind of hardware firewall would you recommend? are they expensive? additionally, how could i setup the server to pass packets between the NICs without a proxy. i know that most medium to large size companies use proxy servers; however, it will only be a limited number of people (2) who will be going online and i'm not worried about that.

 

[GeekDrew]

Originally posted by: aceman817
thanx for the reply guys. unfortunately i don't have an old PC sitting around that i can setup as a router. GeekDrew, what kind of hardware firewall would you recommend? are they expensive? additionally, how could i setup the server to pass packets between the NICs without a proxy. i know that most medium to large size companies use proxy servers; however, it will only be a limited number of people (2) who will be going online and i'm not worried about that.

Well, for most business, I recommend SonicWall... but that's a bit overkill for your implementation, it looks. Even a Linksys router w/ a built in firewall would be better than nothing... would probably be fine, no more than it sounds like it's going to be used.

Look into IP Routing.

 

[cmetz]

aceman817, if you're on a tight budget, get the Linksys WRT54GS and third-party firmware that adds a lot of features. With that and a lot of learning on your part you should be able to do some reasonably advanced policies. If you want this to be really easy, you'll have to spend more money on an entry level business firewall.

Putting the raw DSL connection on a NIC card in the Windows box is a very bad idea.

 

[valkator]

best way to setup dsl in a business is to not because dsl sucks

 

[GeekDrew]

Originally posted by: valkator
best way to setup dsl in a business is to not because dsl sucks

:| DSL is just fine.

 

[pcthuglife]

for right now a basic linksys, dlink, or netgear router should be just fine. put everything behind that and its basic firewall should be ok. you'll just have to enable port forwarding so internet users can access different services on the server. ie port 80 for www

later you should definitely consider setting up ipcop on a spare machine like someone else recommended.

 

[aceman817]

thanx again for the replies everyone. i think the general concensus is that i need to buy a basic wired router. what about using something like the AlphaShield Hardware Firewall as seen here? i wanted to try and avoid getting a new router if possible because the location where all the cables come together is not near the phone line for the dsl service. if i have to get a router though, can i get a 4 port one like the Linksys BEFSR41 seen here and use a crossover cable to connect to the switch for the additional ports?