Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Bootable CDROM-based Firewalls?

Posted by Cliff on from the soon-everyone-will-NEED-one dept.

DNapalm asks: "I work at a small local ISP that is in desperate need of a firewall. We don't have much of a budget, so a hardware-based solution (which I'd prefer) really isn't an option. I've been searching around the web for firewall distributions, and I know what I am looking for. I'd like a boot CD (no install required, no filesystem hacking, just reboot) that stores the configuration on a floppy (that we can easily write protect). It should have a web interface and be able to log to a hard drive or some other machine. Some distributions I've found that seem close are Sentry Firewall, Devil-Linux, NetBoz, ClosedBSD, and Keeper Linux. Has anyone used these? Can you give recommendations? Any help would be appreciated."

2 of 50 comments (clear)

  1. gogole by isorox · · Score: 2, Insightful

    You cant afford $60? Or your want a real router?

    Google/Linux router floppy gives Linux router project

  2. What options do you need? by matts.nu · · Score: 3, Insightful

    You should really list your needs before you pick a firewall.

    Do you just need a packet filter, to block incoming SYN packets?

    Or are looking at an application firewall with anti-virus e-mail scanning, web caches, VPN's, seperate DMZ's for your servers, authentication with OTP's and tokens, etc?

    Different needs. Different solutions.

    How much staff do you have? Any *nix experts?