Hi,

I have a network providing internet access via a cable modem to a set of users. I wish to create two networks for different sets of users but still need internet access for both networks. Is it possible to put a server between the cable modem to act as a firewall, and at the same time put 3 nic's in the server to provide two subnets and to route the traffic between subnets and the internet e.g. 192.168.0.1 -> to cable modem, 192.168.1.1 to subnet A and 192.168.2.1 to subnet B? Can the server still provide SAMBA to both subnets?

Any help or suggestions will be much appreciated.

Many thanks

Andy Norman

It is totally possible. It only requires a few port forwards and a little masquerading. SMB can be forwarded across the subnets by forwarding port 139 and you can either use a proxy (squid), which I highly recommend, or simple masquerading in the firewall to handle the Internet.

Yes it is possible. I have that exact setup right now, 3 NIC's, firewall, and SAMBA.

Here are my suggestions:

1. Dont do everything at once.

2. Start with connecting the server to the modem.(If you don't know how to do it or configure the server with the modem do a search. There are plenty of posts on this topic. )

3. Once you get that going put in a second NIC (Internal network1). Make sure computers on that network are able to ping that NIC. Do the same with the third NIC.

4. Now you need to install or configure the firewall. I dont know if your using SuSE pro or personal but YaST has an easy firewall configuration tool that you can use. It will allow you to specify the external/internal NIC's and the desired ports and services that you want to use.

5. Once you get that going you can go off to Samba. There are several posts on how to configure samba. Do a search as well.