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GuidoJ
Guru
Joined: 24 Dec 2002
Posts: 444
Location: Netherlands
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 Posted: Wed Feb 05, 2003 4:52 pm Post subject: firewall / mail server advice |
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Hi all,
At home I have a small LAN consisting of 2 workstations running Gentoo and Wintendo respectively. A 3rd machine connects the other 2 to the internet and is running SmoothWall. The essential services I use on the latter machine are the packet filtering firewall, IP masquerading and the intrusion detection stuff, I could do without the webmin, proxy, VPN, etc. So I'm thinking of ditching SmoothWall and replacing it by Gentoo. Since my firewall box is a PII, just the firewalling it is having some spare time, so I want to add a few services at the same time.
I'd like some advice on this:
- Is Gentoo a good choice for this kind of system? I'm very happy with it as a workstation, but I have no experience with Gentoo otherwise.
- Basically I will be merging the DMZ into my firewall box. Are there any significant drawbacks to this approach?
- I will start by adding a mail server, including web mail stuff, so that I will be able to read/write/send/receive mail even if I'm on the other side of the planet. What software do you suggest for that?
TIA Guido |
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BackSeat
Apprentice
Joined: 12 Apr 2002
Posts: 242
Location: Reading, UK
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| Posted: Thu Feb 06, 2003 12:00 am Post subject: Re: firewall / mail server advice |
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| GuidoJ wrote: | | Is Gentoo a good choice for this kind of system? I'm very happy with it as a workstation, but I have no experience with Gentoo otherwise. |
Absolutely. We are running Gentoo firewalls in customers' premises (and our own) with no problem.
| GuidoJ wrote: | | Basically I will be merging the DMZ into my firewall box. Are there any significant drawbacks to this approach? |
I would keep the minimum number of services on the firewall. The fewer services there are the less likely a vulnerability will open up your firewall.
| GuidoJ wrote: | | I will start by adding a mail server, including web mail stuff, so that I will be able to read/write/send/receive mail even if I'm on the other side of the planet. What software do you suggest for that? |
You'll get a number of different answers to that question, but we use Postfix and Squirrelmail. You can make it more secure by putting Postfix/Apache/Squirellmail on a box other than your firewall, and port forwarding a port (not necessarily 80) on the firewall to the other box. If you know what IP address, or subnet, you will be connecting from you can limit access to just that address or subnet.
It isn't too hard to do, although you may have a few challenges ahead. Shout if you need help: as I say, we do this all the time.
BS |
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Networking & Security
