Network Setup help.
 

Hi all,

Im currently looking at a way to redo my network.

This is what i have and what i want to do:

1 Linux System

2 Windows Systems

Im looking to set the linux system up as the main system to the net

I have a router and i also want this incoporated in the new network setup.

This is my idea.

Modem > Router or

(PC 1 "Linux") > Router and 2 nics?

(PC 2 "Windows")

(PC 3 "Windows")

What would be the best way to do this ?

If you already have a router, use it. If it does not have enough ports, slap a hub behind it. If you do not have a router, make the linux box a router with 2 nics and iptables/ipmasq and slap a hub behind it.

Expansion and felxibility
 

I'd use the router and just share the connections with the internal machines if all you want is web access.

If you want to do some fun things like run a WebServer, FTP server, etc. you might think about using the Linux box as your first firewall then with a 2nd nic in the linux box feed the router's WAN port and route to your internal network.

You wouldn't need to do it this way to run a web server if your router allows you to forward ports, but it's the way I've got my home setup done. I did it this way for low latency. I run a game server (Counter-Strike) on my external Linux box and any device between it and the internet adds presious ms to the latency.

Again, if all you want to do is share internet access, just use the router. It's a lot easier in most cases.

MrKnisely