netstat on RedHat 7.2, IP MASQ

[Jonathan Hutchins]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jerry Place [mailto:place at umkc.edu]

>    My only comment is that I bought a very small NetGear router for 
> about $80 that will support 32 PCs and had it up and running with 
> DHCP, NAT, SSH and HTTPD port forwarding in the time that it's taken 
> me to read just a few of these messages.
 
>    Understanding how to do this in Linux, while important, may not be 
> the best use of your time.  It was not the case for me.  I guess I'm 
> saying that what's important for me is the right tool at the right 
> time.

You're quite right.  I no longer build these for non-techie friends for just
that reason.  The Mandrake SNF package would come close to the functionality
of a NetGear or SMC box, but the distance by which it's "not quite" is
critical.  

There are two reasons to do this: the understanding you gain from working it
out in Linux, and the flexibility that the Linux system gives you.  I had my
system ready to handle firewalled NetMeeting video in about thirty minutes,
my Dad gave up on getting his SMC Barricade to do it.  It looks like the
only way is to "DMZ" the machine, which in SMC's terms means putting it
outside the firewall.

Ok, there's a third reason, I have a stack of working P120's and a box of
network cards.

When I built my first system, though, it was running diald and providing
this service with a dial-up account, and any dedicated firewall/router
available would have cost as much as a decent car.

I can build a working Linux NAT Firewall in about an hour, hardware and
software both.  I can't get it down as fine as the one I've had for five
years, but I can get a good standardised system that will do what I tell it
to and perform the necessary functions.  I can even set it up for Bell's
bastardized PPPoE systems.  But now that you can buy a black box for $75
that does the same thing, it's only worth doing for it's own sake.