Router solution for old PC
 

Hello,
First post here (due to the "no register, no question" rule) and like to apologize for my stupid username for starters. I got really agry trying to put my name "Sotos" in after dozen changes with strings and gave up!

Well, it's like this. I have an old PC with specs:
Pentium 100Mhz, 16MB EDO RAM, 2 IDE HDs 212MB and 4.3GB, 2x PCI Realtek 8139 NICS, 2MB PCI VGA card, Sound Blaster compatible sound card, 8x CDROM.

I need a routing, webserver, FTP solution and err... relatively fast solution for an ADSL 640kbps line.
I'm not afraid of learning commands.
Suggestions for small upgrades on the system acceptable.


Also I have another old computer that my cousins neighbor tried to trash.
A 486 66Mhz, 4MB RAM of 30pin (4 sticks! :) , it has 2 72pin banks empty), and 125MB, ISA VGA with ? RAM. Well this one barely works its 3.11 Windoze. Need a Linux or other fast solution for my cousins to play games on.


Lastly I have my dual AMD 2600+s, which I do mostly modeling and rendering on WindozeXP with Maya5 and I was wondering if it would be wise to buy another computer to have as workstation and use the duallie as renderfarm server running Linux.

Thanks in advance.
Sotos

For your router solution
I recommend ClarkConenct, which you can find @ ClarkConnect.org which is an excellent way of doing so, especially if you don't want to learn commands. You download the cd and boot off of it.

Check it out, hope it helps !

Triki

Greetings!


If I had those two boxes and wanted to do what you want then I'd do something like this:

I'd take the 486, equip it with two NICs (network interface card) and install linux on it. This box would be configured as the masquerading router/firewall and nothing else. For this it needs a minimal linux system, drivers for the two NICs in the kernel (or as modules) and support for iptables (the firewall software).

When I had this working I'd start installing linux onto the Pentium. This one I'd use as a dns/http/ftp/proxy server. For DNS I recommend
bind. For http - of course - apache. For ftp I'd use vsftpd. And as a http proxy I suggest squid.

If you get all this running, I guess you'd have a nice and fast setup for client computers to use! :D

If you have a specific question to any of the above, feel free to ask. I'd be glad to try and be of help.


Good luck!

Is it possible to use one machine for all of it?
I want to leave the 486 out of the picture.
Besides this will run 24/7 and another 200W machine will be bad for my pocket.
I was wondering if standalone router/firewall solution will cost less electricity comparing to the linux box.

Well, leaving the 486 out and putting a standalone router in its place will most certainly cost less electricity. It may also be a better solution from a security standpoint, depending on how you look at it.

You can also use the Pentium for all of the tasks. However you might be more vulnerable to outside attacks. This is because the box that will be the firewall will also run numerous server daemons that might open security holes. Theoretically once this box is compromised one could try to gain access to all of the other boxes in your LAN. On the other side with a seperate box as a firewall you could put your server into a demilitarized zone. This means you not only protect your lan from the internet by the firewall but also protect your LAN from your server, in the case it is compromised.

So if you don't worry about security that much and electricity cost is an issue, you can certainly use only one box to do all the jobs for you. Another box (or a standalone router) will just add another layer of security.

And one thing I forgot in my earlier post: You should consider putting more RAM into your Pentium if you plan to use Apache and/or Squid. These can be badass memory hogs. ;)