[clue-tech] Which computer to use for Linux firewall??

[Adam bultman]

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Matt Atkins wrote:

> What kind of horsepower do I need for a dedicated Linux firewall,
> running IPCop, for example?? I need to put together a proposal and
> cost comparison for my boss, and I need to know the amount of
> money I need for hardware. I've heard stories of Linux servers
> running on a PII with 256MB RAM. I obviously can't buy any new PII
> or PIII's, but what about a new 2.53 Ghz Celeron from Dell?? I can
> get one for between $300 and $400.
>
> Matt Atkins
>
>


Matt, you don't need much horsepower at all for something like a local
office.  A 500MHz box would do all the NAT you could possibly want.
Only when you start getting into higher numbers of connections, more
intensive rules, etc do you start running out of horsepower.

What you'll want to make sure you do, however, is get a system that's
not going to crash or die. A single IDE or SATA disk might crash at
any moment, etc, and then you're down until you rebuild the system.
Putting in more drives, etc, helps, but things are still going to die.

I realize I tooted this horn the other day, but the "OMG!!!1" value of
an ipCOP firewall goes way  down when it drops a disk, or crashes and
then needs a manual FSCK.   I'd get a SOHO router or some
more-than-adequate, firmware based router that'll take care of your
needs that can be restarted by the guy from the marketing department
with a pen.

Adam
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