SysAdmin: Build a Floppy Firewall

Jan 07, 2001, 23:30 (21 Talkback[s])
(Other stories by Andreas Meyer)

"Here's how I turned an unused PC into a packet-filtering firewall using a package called floppyfw . The firewall boots off a single floppy, runs completely in RAM, and uses ipchains for the filter rules. It also does IP masquerading, port forwarding, and can log to a remote host using syslog. All this in a machine with as little as 8 MB of RAM and no hard drive!"

"floppyfw's author, Thomas Lundquist, describes it as a Linux "screening router with firewall capabilities". It boots a Linux kernel and comes with a minimal set of tools to get the job done. If you think about it, that's actually a feature. If a bad guy were to get into your firewall machine somehow, there won't be much for him to use against you. And since we're running completely on a RAM disk, a simple reboot from the floppy will restore the system to its original state."

"As with many Linux projects, floppyfw has a do-it-yourself aspect. But I'll show you where I found a set of almost-ready-to-run filter rules, so you can quickly set up your own firewall."

Complete Story

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