Which OS for this machine? (firewall, web hosting, IP masquerading, etc.)

[Fun Guy]

I will have two workstations in my small office. I only have one static IP from my ISP, but want to be able to access the internet from both machines, as well as host a web site with
all the goodies (FTP, etc). I built a third, dual-processor box for this purpose and called it the Firewall Box (the reason for this name is that I have a T1 into my home office and can see everyone else's machine on the network - very scary).

Now, I already installed Red Hat 6.1 Professional on the Firewall Box, but only now need to configure it for its original purpose since I am bringing the second workstation on-line. I am rethinking this original strategy since I have an OEM copy of Win2K Server (additionally, I was not relishing the idea of learning UNIX just to configure this box). The more I think about it, the better re-configuring the box with Win2K begins to sound.

Here is the basic network:
- One NT4 Graphics/Digital Video Editing Workstation
- One Win2K/Win98/WinMe Multimedia Workstation
- One Firewall Box (Win2K Server? Red Hat 6.1?) with 2 network cards
- One Linksys 5-port 100MB switching hub
- One Ethernet-equipped workgroup laser printer

I figure the network connection will go directly into the Firewall Box, then input to the switching hub. The two workstations and the laser will then plug into outputs of the hub.

Any comments or opinions on this setup? I am pretty familiar with NT4 so I feel comfortable setting up Win2K Server on the Firewall box. Are there any features/functions I will be losing out on by going Win2K rather than Linux on the Firewall Box? Anything else I need to keep in mind as I move forward?

Thanks in advance for any and all help on this.

 

[Jator]

I would defeinetly use a Software Firewall such as ZoneAlarm if you stay with 2k. I have used NT4 as a router using NAT addon, and I really liked the port forwarding option. I now have a router/firewall and it's good, except it's limited in what it can do with port forwarding.

Linux is good, but the learning curve is greater right now from where you stand. For immediate use, go with the 2k machine, and build a seperate box to house Linux so you can learn as you go.

Jay

 

[Fun Guy]

Anyone else?

 

[Wik]

There is a simple router/firewall program you can use but the dual processor machine would be overkill to just use it to route your connection. Freesco (free Cisco) will share your connection and also forward ports to be able to run a ftp/web server behind the wall. It will run on a 386 with 6 megs of ram and only uses a floppy disk and is totaly free. No hard drive required. 16 megs of ram is ideal though to use all the modules. You could also use the Freesco machine as your print server. I run it off of a 166 with 32 megs of ram and feal guilty because it is overkill. I have also used Windows ME and Windows 2k and even a Netgear router to do the same, but my choice is to use the Freesco box as it is so simple. I just boot it up and leave it. Take a look if this interests you...

www.freesco.com