[Techtalk] Multi-port NICs and iptables/ipchains?

[Scott Sandeman-Allen (RSCorp)]

For a simple network, you only need two NICs... but to add a DMZ etc. then a
third or fourth may be necessary (which is what I read from your message, I
hope that is correct).

The multi-port NICs that are available and supported under many *nixes. I
believe there is a DLink 4-port NIC available (amongst others). Requires only
one interrupt too. They are over CAD$200 so... U$130+ I suppose. Addressable as
eth0, eth1... and work well. This would be an excellent choice VS USB IMO.

All else is possible (my personal fav. is OpenBSD for firewalls, pf is a dream
compared to iptables IMO, but the owners & list are not for the faint of heart.
They have excellent docs and howtos though so are fine with researched
questions). Some distro's like 'drake have shorewall built-in which makes
tables easier to manage. 'drake also has SNF and MNF which are dedicated
products with web interfaces.

A friend swears by 'guarddog' and 'guidedog' for building firewalls. I've only
had a cursory glance m'self. I personally have no experience with smoothwall
though a few friends have and like it. They have reported it straight forward
to configure.

Just a few thoughts. Now, back to your regular programming...

Scott

> Just wondering if anyone has had any experience with multiport NICs and
> Linux firewalls. I would like to build a mini-ITX box with a firewall
> (probably IPCop or Smoothwall), but mini-ITX boards have only one PCI 
> card.
> They also have onboard Ethernet, but that's only two ports. One 
> possibility
> I've considered is USB Ethernet for the third port, but it would 
> probably be
> nicer to use a single card with multiple ports.
> 
> Anyone care to share experience? Or suggestions?
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> Jen 
> 
> 
> 
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