Homemade router with cheap PC question!

[Joony]

I remember a long long while ago that there was software that can be used on a cheap old PC to make it into a full fledged router! I'm trying to recall what that was and all I came up with was BBIagent. Was this it? I think I remember there was a free one.

edit: I did some more research and found the one that I was searching for, FREESCO!.

But I just realized that it is linux based. I want to create some sort of cheap server that will do my routing, file serving, and print serving! Along with very minor webpage hosting. Could linux do all this for me? I would definitely prefer some sort of Windows environment such as Win2k Server or such but are there any routing software that is windows based and can provide all the features of FREESCO?

 

[FoBoT]

you don't need no windows for that
if you want something similar to freesco but with

apache
php
and other "real" server features, check out ClarkConnect

What is ClarkConnect?
ClarkConnect is a software package that transforms standard PC hardware into a dedicated broadband gateway and easy-to-use server. The software is a great solution for businesses, organizations, home offices, and networked homes.

 

[Need4Speed]

i wouldnt be using a router/firewall for file serving. if it gets compromised and its attached to other nodes, its easy pickin's from there out

 

[Tokar]

yeah BBI agent will do the trick...
put two network cards into this "old" computer...other requirements include motherboard/CPU of course, RAM of course, a floppy disk, a graphics card (sound card, CDROM, modem, all unnecessary). Goto the BBI agent website. Click english, assuming you speak english. Click download. Choose how you want to run the "create boot image" (under step 1)...i chose applet.

Specifiy IP/Subnet for internal network
Specify CPU
Specify amount of RAM
Select device connecting to internal network

If you chooe a USB adapter:
Select USB adapter (???...)...i think the Via/Intel one will do
If you choose non-USB:
I think you can skip the interrupt and I/O settings page.

Select choice for how to obtain IP settings for external network (internet)
Select device connectingto external network (internet)

If you chooe a USB adapter:
Select USB adapter (???...)...i think the Via/Intel one will do
If you choose non-USB:
I think you can skip the interrupt and I/O settings page.

Leave settings for initial IP settings, as they will be changed with DHCP or whatever anyway
Inspect to make sure you chose all the right settings on the last page
Click Download


Then write the downloaded image to a floppy.
Boot off floppy.

Congratulation, you have a home made router.

 

[skyking]

Originally posted by: Need4Speed
i wouldnt be using a router/firewall for file serving. if it gets compromised and its attached to other nodes, its easy pickin's from there out

Second vote for seperating services. any old p90 will do as a firewall router, set up another more powerful box for your web and fileserver. More powerful, like a p166 or better

 

[Mucman]

I had a 486 with a 20MB HD running Freesco for almost 2 years without any problems. I also prefer to seperate my file server
and web server.

 

[Joony]

hmm, you guys are right...I didn't realize that. Also, seperating em will allow me to use windows on the file server machine! thanks for the idea guys!

another question, how will the Freesco router compare to an actual hardware router like a linksys one? Also, will having a faster routing machine make it "route" faster in freesco?

 

[Mucman]

Originally posted by: Joony
hmm, you guys are right...I didn't realize that. Also, seperating em will allow me to use windows on the file server machine! thanks for the idea guys!

another question, how will the Freesco router compare to an actual hardware router like a linksys one? Also, will having a faster routing machine make it "route" faster in freesco?

Like I said... I was running it on a 486 for 2 years with out any issues. I had a network of 7 computers behind it. One was a web-server
doing streaming audio and it maintained the 60KB upload rate without any problems. I still managed to get the occasional 500KB/s download as well. Most people found my network very fast... but I think that had more to do with my local caching nameservers than anything else.

 

[Need4Speed]

Also, seperating em will allow me to use windows on the file server machine!

use debian and samba instead. what do you need a GUI on a file server for?

 

[Joony]

Originally posted by: Need4Speed

Also, seperating em will allow me to use windows on the file server machine!

use debian and samba instead. what do you need a GUI on a file server for?

I prefer the Windows Environment because i'm familiar with it, but I am willing to change. What are the advantages of Linux over Windows Server 2k for file serving and some light webhosting?

 

[skyking]

Resources usage: I have heard of people running win2k server on a p200 or less, but it is an agonizing proposition. A BSD or unix machine can serve pages and files with comparatively lower horsepower.

Free apps: Linux has a multitude of free Server applications, some of which are duplicated on win32 apps. It is a server OS, plain and simple, and you want a server. Apache is ported for windows, for example, but there are few good (free) mailserver apps for windows, and literally too many to choose from in Linux.

The learning curve will be steep, but if you can get some help here and there, and RTM, you can get it going.

 

[Joony]

hmm, perhaps I will, just to learn some Linux i'm quite open minded

How will a Dual Penitum Pro 200mhz w/ 512kb Cache do? They're quite cheap these days!

edit: Actually Xeons are pretty damn cheap too! The ones based off of Penitum 2s!

 

[Mucman]

Originally posted by: Joony
hmm, perhaps I will, just to learn some Linux i'm quite open minded

How will a Dual Penitum Pro 200mhz w/ 512kb Cache do? They're quite cheap these days!

edit: Actually Xeons are pretty damn cheap too! The ones based off of Penitum 2s!

Joony, I think one of the most misinterpreted word in computer land is "server". Most people think super high end
expensive machine, when all it is is a machine that's dedicated to handling certain client requests.

Here are my "servers"

486 - FreeBSD DNS (dnscache) "server"
P150 - FreeBSD file (nfs + 120GB for 4 machines) "server"
P233 - FreeBSD web/database "server"

None of those are high powered machines but are very capable at acting as a server. No, you wouldn't be
able to host Anandtech with that setup, but you can easily handle a couple dozen requests.

You know what else is great about my servers? They were free! FreeBSD is free, all the software for it (8000 ports) are
free! The machines were given to me, because Windows users that they were completely useless so I kindly took them
off their hands. The only things I had to pay for were the HD's for the file server, and a controller card.

Hope that helps you out.