What is the best option: modem or Linux server as the router of my network?
 

Hello,

What is the best option: leave the ADSL modem as the router of my network, or use a Debian Linux server in place?

Info:

* there is high traffic on my network (at work time);
* 7 PCs on the network;
* Debian Linux server: PC - Intel Pentium IV 3.06 Ghz - 2 GB RAM.

Thanks!

what else do you have the Debian server for?

I have a separate machine for router (a slackware 13 32bit, on a PIII), but I have added quite a few goodies on top:

its a server for (well mostly I wanted to know i could do it):
dhcp
dns (for the intranet only)
proxy (with acls and the cache enabled)
firewall (with NAT)
vpn
ftp
http (obviously it only handles extremely light traffic)

in the future this router will also be used for load balancing but for now only one ISP connection is present)

I only use the ADSL modem as a modem, DMZ'ing all traffic to the linux router.

the downside is POWER (in the green times we live in). Keep in mind most of the things i am doing, can be done with a simple of-the-shelf ADSL modem-router, and at 1/20 of the power consumption (talk about 170W for the pc compared to no more than 24W for a ADSL modem....


SO if your are using the debian server as <a number of things> and it has the avail resources (it prob does) then by all means to it...

Thanks for the reply!

Well, I tought that the PC would be a better router for my network than the modem. The server was running just dhcp3-server and bind, nothing else related to servers. So... I don't need a PC running just for that, is that right?

well pretty much....
I would still advise FOR learning the most out of your linux box:)
so to confuse things more I'll go ahead and say that should build the system even if you don't use it in the end.

Also consider this:
torrents are heavy on your ADSL modem, so if you have a big load and you experience crashes from your modem it might be an additional reason to move firewall etc away from the modem.

Also, check that your ADSL modem offers stateful packet inspection. If it doesn't it might be a solid reason to love the firewall into a linux box!:)

Finally, you could check with http://openwrt.org/ and / or http://www.dd-wrt.com/site/index if your modem is supported and then linux one of these router oriented distros and have the linux box IN the ADSL modem!:)

nass,

Thanks! I'm reading the sites right now. Thanks again!

Well, searching on the internet forums, I verified that using a good router (like Cisco/Linksys) is the best option. In the case of larger networks (like in large corporations), then it might be interesting to use a dedicated PC server as a "router". In relation to how to use the modem, it would be interesting to split tasks between two devices (modem and routing), and that is what I am doing right now, and it is really good.

Modem: Huawei SmartAX MT880A
Router (wireless): D-Link DI-524

I think that I will keep this setup.

About the "Linux Box", installing Linux in a router, it is a good idea. I will do that when I buy a new router.

I would like to thank you all!