HI all,

Im new in here and new to Linux

in fact ive never installed Linux and have been using windows based software for the past 20 years

I need to control internet access in my company. coz guys are always on FB or streaming videos and thus minimizing internet bandwidth to a minimum and people really using internet for work are not abel to do so.

Ive got budget constraints and ive been told that , linuz is free, Linux has not much viruses and there are pretty good internet access control software on Linux.

I need to be able to limit access for some users, block certain sites for others, block streaming or download for others or even block internet access for others. I may have to allow internet access at time intervals during the day like lunch time.

Ive been told that there is a need for 2 network cards on a computer running Linux , one connected to the internet and the other to the internal network .

anyone can help me in finding what version of linux and what software to use.

Thanks beforehand

Kishan

I think you can even set this up in your router. So no need to dedicate a computer to it at all.

There's no such thing as free as in cost. Sure, Linux will allow you to get a setup running for restricting Internet but it will cost you time in learning about it. Don't expect it to be a one click solution that magically works with a push of a single button.

If you want to learn more about how Linux can limit and restrict internet you can research the following (google),

• quality of service iptables (iptables is a firewall)
• linux internet throttle
• dns poisoning bind9 block websites (bind9 is a DNS daemon/service)
• linux internet parental controls

Also, from rockhopper_penguin mention, there are custom router firmwares which may have this kind of stuff built in if you're looking for an easy solution at the risk of potentially bricking your router if you install the firmware incorrectly (ddwrt is an example). Depending on the router you have you may be able to block single domains (which is much safer than installing a firmware on it).

That should get you started.

SAM

If you are new to linux so the easiest thing is to use open source UTM "universal threat management" you need a machine and two nic then you should make this system as a default gateway for the company employees , you can try "endian firewall" it has free version and it has everything you need, actually you only need a proxy and web content filter no more but to install and configure them you should have some linux skills .if you want to try, dansguardian "content filter" plus squid "proxy" will do the job for you.