There are a couple of freeware or shareware Linux-based
"products" that make a good router/firewall/gateway.
They include:
ShareTheNet:
http://www.sharethenet.com
Freesco:
http://www.freesco.org
These tend to be easy to set up, but may not do a lot
of other stuff you might want (print server, etc.).
See, in general:
Linux Router Project:
http://www.linuxrouter.org
I've used ShareTheNet with an old 386/8MB/floppy-only
system for over two years now with my DSL connection.
(It's in a small case with no keyboard or monitor.)
STN hasn't "improved" much recently, but it does everything
I want it to do. Freesco has a few more features, is
still evolving, and is free.
The Mac and PC can "read each other's hard drives"
over your local area network using FTP, but if you
want to go beyond that, you'll need additional software
on one or both of the machines. I don't think your
router/firewall/gateway can do much to expedite this aspect.
Dave
"Charles P. Hobbs (SoCalTip)" wrote:
I've got a couple of 486 boxen (25 mHz, 8-megs of Ram, 1.2 gig
hard drive) sitting around the house. I'd like to make one of them
into a Linux-based firewall for my cable modem. (I also have a copy
of Turbo Linux available for this project)
Currently I use both a PC and a Mac, and switch between them via
a KVM switch. Both are equipped with Ethernet cards to connect into
the cable modem. I've tried using an Ethernet cable switch to
select either the PC or the Mac, but it didn't quite work the way I
expected it to.
At the very minimum, I would like to be able to
* have both the PC and Mac be able to access the internet at
the same time
* do the usual firewall stuff (e.g. keep the bad guy out. I currently
use ZoneAlarm on the pc, and it does a decent job)
I'd also like to go further, and have the Mac and PC read each other's
hard drives (still, while keeping outside users out)
What do I need to do/get here?
Thanks!