Hardware Firewall

[Mattyl110792]

Hi,

I have an old computer sitting here (Celeron 2.4ghz (at 2.6), 768mb DDR400 RAM, 30gb hdd, intergrated video)....and i have checked my options as to what i can use it for, and i have come to the conclusion to use it for something like a "hardware firewall". First off, is that pc capable of doing it? If so, could somebody please point me in the direction for instructions to setting one up....

Thanks,

Matt

 

[freestyler105]

Yes, that would work. What you would basically have to do is connect the old PC to the internet connection, and connect the new PC to the old PC. You would need to use a crossover CAT5 cable in between the PCs, and a regular CAT5 from the modem to the old PC as usual. Keep in mind, this requires that you have 2 NICs (Network Interface Cards) in the old PC. You would then have to set up the old PC to allow internet connection sharing.

A much less complicated option would be to simply buy a router. It'll do the same thing, plus you can still plug the old PC into the internet.

Also, that computer isn't really all that old. Right now, most typical users have a PC with specs that are something like that.

 

[Mattyl110792]

Ahh, ok sorry i didnt say, i currently have a Netgear DG834 Modem/Router....with currently 2 pc's hooked up to it, and doing firewall tests, it scored poorly, so i thought that i could make a hardware firewall with the other one i have, but seems i misunderstood lol...Thanks

Matt

EDIT: Other than a hardware firewall, do u have any suggestions as to what i can use it for??

 

[mammikoura]

go to the router options and see if u have the firewall enabled.

 

[freestyler105]

Use it for some kind of server inside your house. Store movies, pictures, whatever. Connect all your printers to it and make it a print server. Maybe buy another 30 GB drive and use RAID1 (basically will create 2 duplicate disks to prevent failure - if one drive fails, the other will still work) for your important files. Make it a torrent/download server that you use exclusively for downloading things. You could even make a website (but if you want a domain name, you'll need to pay a few bucks a month)

There's a million possibilities. Try putting Linux on it and experiment with that. Have sweet CounterStrike and DOOM LAN parties!!

This is kinda useless:
http://www.lowendmac.com/compact/macquarium.shtml

Hope this gives you some ideas. I currently have a Pentium II 266 MHz Win98 box set up inside a Legos case that I built as a music server so anyone can wirelessly connect to my network and get access to a few gigs of music. Actually, the uber-geek lego PC wasn't even that hard to set up. I just ripped everything out of the case and put it inside a lego box. Pretty neat.

 

[Mattyl110792]

Thanks for the options!....i might see if i can bu myself a big hdd for it and maybe use it as a file server....

Thanks,

Matt