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Standalone Linux routers

L

Link19

Senior member
I'm looking for a NAT/router with 6-8 switched ports that runs Linux. I want a router with Linux becuase I want more flexibility over the configuartion so I can open only specific ports needed without being restricted to the 10 rows of ranges you can only specify on most home routers with a simple web broswer interface menus. I also want more control over firewall and NATing options. What manufacturers offer Linux routers and can you buy them easily?

Thanks for your help.
 
oh.. best part smoothwall is free. you just need an old computer p2-400 or so and a 4gb drive and like 64-128mb of mem..
 
I've thought about doing that with a PC, but I just thought about the idea that getting a Linux standalone would be better if possibe because it takes up much less space (just like most home standalone routers) and doesn't produce any noise as you usually leave a router on all the time, where as a PC, it has all the fans that produce noise and it draws more heat and power.

Well, it looks like there really isn't any standalone Linux routers, so I'm going to have to use a PC and install Linux on it in order to do it. So, a couple more questions as a result. I just downloaded Mandrake Linux 10.0. How would Mandrake Linux 10.0 compare with ClarkConnect and Smoothwall? Also, would it be better to buy a switch and connect it to a NIC on the PC, or just use 5 NIC cards on the PC and use those for all my Network ports? Would NIC cards that support full duplex be the same as using a multi-port switch connected to one NIC on the PC? And would a Pentium III 450MHz PC with 256MB of RAM be enough? And how relaible and secure are Clark Connect, Smoothwall, and Mandrake Linux?
 
Originally posted by: Link19
I've thought about doing that with a PC, but I just thought about the idea that getting a Linux standalone would be better if possibe because it takes up much less space (just like most home standalone routers) and doesn't produce any noise as you usually leave a router on all the time, where as a PC, it has all the fans that produce noise and it draws more heat and power.
Click to expand...

Check out the VIA c3. You can get one with no fans, increadibly small, doesn't use much power, and can easily use a CF disk instead of a hard drive. Or look at the soekris, which uses a (I believe fanless) geode processor.

Well, it looks like there really isn't any standalone Linux routers,
Click to expand...

What about the Linksys one?

so I'm going to have to use a PC and install Linux on it in order to do it. So, a couple more questions as a result. I just downloaded Mandrake Linux 10.0. How would Mandrake Linux 10.0 compare with ClarkConnect and Smoothwall? Also, would it be better to buy a switch and connect it to a NIC on the PC, or just use 5 NIC cards on the PC and use those for all my Network ports? Would NIC cards that support full duplex be the same as using a multi-port switch connected to one NIC on the PC? And would a Pentium III 450MHz PC with 256MB of RAM be enough? And how relaible and secure are Clark Connect, Smoothwall, and Mandrake Linux?
Click to expand...

Mandrake will be fine. Linux is Linux. A switch is a better option than messing with routing stuff. A p3 is overkill.
 
As n0c said several of Linksys' stuff is Linux based, you just have to make sure you get the right model so that you can hack it.
 
Check out the VIA c3. You can get one with no fans, increadibly small, doesn't use much power, and can easily use a CF disk instead of a hard drive. Or look at the soekris, which uses a (I believe fanless) geode processor.
Click to expand...

What is a CF disk? Do you mean a Compact Flash Card? I have heard Compact Flash Cards have a maximum number of times they can be re-written on over and over again. Is that true? And would a Compact Flash Card be just as reliable as a HDD for running an OS on it? ANother words, would an OS like Linux be ok on a solid state device? And can I buy a VIA c3 for less than $200. All I would need is one powerful enough for making a Linux NAT/router
 
Yes you can only write to a CF drive a set number of times, but once everything is setup you don't have to write to it any more. The root filesystem can be read-only and as long as there's enough memory in the box you can setup a few directories like /tmp, /var/run, etc on a ramdisk.
 
Originally posted by: Link19
Check out the VIA c3. You can get one with no fans, increadibly small, doesn't use much power, and can easily use a CF disk instead of a hard drive. Or look at the soekris, which uses a (I believe fanless) geode processor.
Click to expand...

What is a CF disk? Do you mean a Compact Flash Card? I have heard Compact Flash Cards have a maximum number of times they can be re-written on over and over again. Is that true? And would a Compact Flash Card be just as reliable as a HDD for running an OS on it? ANother words, would an OS like Linux be ok on a solid state device? And can I buy a VIA c3 for less than $200. All I would need is one powerful enough for making a Linux NAT/router
Click to expand...

Yeah, like Nothinman said, CF (compact flash) has a limited number of writes. Somewhere in the range of 100,000, IIRC.

CF is more reliable than a hard drive, since I don't think there are any moving parts.

Linux can run on some Disk On Chip systems, CF, hard drives, etc. You name it, it's probably been there.

I bought an older C3 (not fanless) for like $45 in the FS forum. Haven't gotten around to using it yet though. 😛
 
Originally posted by: Nothinman
Yes you can only write to a CF drive a set number of times, but once everything is setup you don't have to write to it any more. The root filesystem can be read-only and as long as there's enough memory in the box you can setup a few directories like /tmp, /var/run, etc on a ramdisk.
Click to expand...

If the root filesystems is read only and I create a RAM drive, that won't maiantain data in a power outage or reboot because RAM loses all of it's data when the power goes off or you reboot. SO is there something else I could save it on to restore my settings in case of a pwoer outage or reboot like a floppy? And what kind of CF card would be best? Would I need an IDE CF card and what size would I need if I want to use Smoothwall? It read in the documentation on the ISO I downloaded and burned to a CD and it said it was recommended to have 2GB of disk space or more? It said that you could get by with as little as 500 some MB of disk space.
 
Yes, the ramdrive will lose data, but the best thing to do is only use ramdrives for temporary storage. /tmp, /var/run don't have any data that should persist through a reboot. So, at boot, these directories should be empty. 🙂 All settings and whatnot should be stored on the CF in RO so they will survive a reboot.

An IDE to CF (CF to IDE?) adapter is probably what you want. They're generally cheap (seen'em for $20). A decent quality CF disk is always good. SanDisk supposedly makes good ones, but I haven't bought any.

I think OpenBSD gets away with 128MB disks. Never tried smoothwall, so I'm not sure how much extra crap they throw in.
 
How would the speed of a CF card be compared to a HDD? I've heard that CF cards have much lower latency, but a much slower read/write time.
 
Originally posted by: Link19
How would the speed of a CF card be compared to a HDD? I've heard that CF cards have much lower latency, but a much slower read/write time.
Click to expand...

They are slower.
 
Originally posted by: Link19
How would the speed of a CF card be compared to a HDD? I've heard that CF cards have much lower latency, but a much slower read/write time.
Click to expand...

Would a CF card still be fast enough for no degrade in performance for building a router?
 
that depends on how fast of a router you need. if its for a smaller network, then you shouldnt notice a difference. nortel contivity boxes run on CF cards (well, some of them do) and I had a network of 100+ connecting through a nortel box that used a CF card and hardware that was equivalent to a low end PIII.
 
Originally posted by: groovin
that depends on how fast of a router you need. if its for a smaller network, then you shouldnt notice a difference. nortel contivity boxes run on CF cards (well, some of them do) and I had a network of 100+ connecting through a nortel box that used a CF card and hardware that was equivalent to a low end PIII.
Click to expand...

Was the performance of your network with 100+ connecting through just as good as if you used a high quality standalone router or HDD inside of the box?
 
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