Three Excellent Linux Router Distros + 1 BSD

“Linux is an endlessly adaptable networking and security
powerhouse, from tiny to enterprise. Here is a sampling of three
specialty Linux router distros and one based on FreeBSD.

“Special purpose appliance distributions are one of the things
that Linux does extremely well. You can find any number of
task-specific appliances from either Turnkey Linux or on the VMware
Virtual Appliance marketplace. Another option is to roll your own
with a service like Novell’s SUSE Studio. In this article we’ll
take a look at four different specialized distributions targeted at
the job of an Internet firewall or traffic router. Our list of
candidates for this job includes Clear OS, m0n0wall, Untangle and
Vyatta. We’ll give you a quick introduction to each along with some
context to help steer you in the direction that makes the most
sense for your application. Each one has its own set of features
and distinctive, and we’ll try to highlight those for you.

“The first thing we need to do before we get started is to
define what a router is or does. In the most basic sense of the
term, a router forwards packets from one network to another. To
really understand what’s going on you need to picture how Internet
traffic moves from one computer to another. If you do a Google
search for OSI 7-layer model, you’ll find any number of pictures
and references describing network traffic as it happens from the
lowest layer (physical) up to the highest layer (application). Most
routers typically sit at layer 3 since they use an IP address to
make decisions on what to do with the data. Most firewalls
typically involve the basic functions of a router along with
filtering and physical separation, meaning two separate network
connections, to do their job.”

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