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Monowall [modified]

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  • realJSOPR realJSOP

    I was thinking of replacing my Zyxel Zywall2 router with a PC running a Linux/BSD-based firewall distribution. I've kinda decided on Monowall for the software end of it. Does anyone have any experience with it? The hardware will be a motherboard with 3 PCIe slots for NIC cards, a low-power CPU, and 2gb RAM, and a small SSD (16gb).

    .45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly
    -----
    "Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
    -----
    "The staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - J. Jystad, 2001

    modified on Saturday, May 15, 2010 8:29 AM

    M Offline
    M Offline
    Mustafa Ismail Mustafa
    wrote on last edited by
    #3

    I've worked quite a bit with a derivative of monowall, pfsense[^]. I use it at home and I've installed 6 corporate installations so far. How can I help you?

    If the post was helpful, please vote, eh! Current activities: Book: Devils by Fyodor Dostoyevsky Project: Hospital Automation, final stage Learning: Image analysis, LINQ Now and forever, defiant to the end. What is Multiple Sclerosis[^]?

    realJSOPR 1 Reply Last reply
    0
    • realJSOPR realJSOP

      I was thinking of replacing my Zyxel Zywall2 router with a PC running a Linux/BSD-based firewall distribution. I've kinda decided on Monowall for the software end of it. Does anyone have any experience with it? The hardware will be a motherboard with 3 PCIe slots for NIC cards, a low-power CPU, and 2gb RAM, and a small SSD (16gb).

      .45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly
      -----
      "Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
      -----
      "The staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - J. Jystad, 2001

      modified on Saturday, May 15, 2010 8:29 AM

      N Offline
      N Offline
      Nougat H
      wrote on last edited by
      #4

      I used to use a virtual machine with linux on it as a router for a while when the network on my vista machine went bust and I didn't have time to reinstall vista. I configured iptables directly and it was pretty messy. I did try a few of those packages where you write a configuration in an easier format and the software generates iptables rules but didn't really like either of them too much. From what I see monowall has a web gui so it might be more user friendly that ipf. Good luck :)

      ____________________________ I didn't know what to put in here.

      1 Reply Last reply
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      • realJSOPR realJSOP

        I was thinking of replacing my Zyxel Zywall2 router with a PC running a Linux/BSD-based firewall distribution. I've kinda decided on Monowall for the software end of it. Does anyone have any experience with it? The hardware will be a motherboard with 3 PCIe slots for NIC cards, a low-power CPU, and 2gb RAM, and a small SSD (16gb).

        .45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly
        -----
        "Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
        -----
        "The staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - J. Jystad, 2001

        modified on Saturday, May 15, 2010 8:29 AM

        H Offline
        H Offline
        Henry Minute
        wrote on last edited by
        #5

        The last time I used a PC with Linux as a firewall was some time ago (about 7 years) when I used SmoothWall GPL. I think the newer open-source version is SmoothWall Express. It found it very easy to manage. I think that MonoWall is a fork from the earlier version and would therefore hope that it would be as easy to use.

        Henry Minute Do not read medical books! You could die of a misprint. - Mark Twain Girl: (staring) "Why do you need an icy cucumber?" “I want to report a fraud. The government is lying to us all.”

        1 Reply Last reply
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        • M Mustafa Ismail Mustafa

          I've worked quite a bit with a derivative of monowall, pfsense[^]. I use it at home and I've installed 6 corporate installations so far. How can I help you?

          If the post was helpful, please vote, eh! Current activities: Book: Devils by Fyodor Dostoyevsky Project: Hospital Automation, final stage Learning: Image analysis, LINQ Now and forever, defiant to the end. What is Multiple Sclerosis[^]?

          realJSOPR Offline
          realJSOPR Offline
          realJSOP
          wrote on last edited by
          #6

          I don't nee help yet, I'm just toying with the idea...

          .45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly
          -----
          "Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
          -----
          "The staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - J. Jystad, 2001

          M 1 Reply Last reply
          0
          • realJSOPR realJSOP

            I was thinking of replacing my Zyxel Zywall2 router with a PC running a Linux/BSD-based firewall distribution. I've kinda decided on Monowall for the software end of it. Does anyone have any experience with it? The hardware will be a motherboard with 3 PCIe slots for NIC cards, a low-power CPU, and 2gb RAM, and a small SSD (16gb).

            .45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly
            -----
            "Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
            -----
            "The staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - J. Jystad, 2001

            modified on Saturday, May 15, 2010 8:29 AM

            S Offline
            S Offline
            Steve McLenithan
            wrote on last edited by
            #7

            Looks very similar to http://www.astaro.com/[^], which is free for home use. A little annoying getting all your ports and NATs setup but very nice over all.

            // Steve McLenithan

            1 Reply Last reply
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            • C Chris Losinger

              John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote:

              my Zyxel Zywall2

              is that the one that treats allergies ?

              image processing toolkits | batch image processing

              L Offline
              L Offline
              Luc Pattyn
              wrote on last edited by
              #8

              Chris Losinger wrote:

              treats allergies ?

              that probably would be Xyzall, by UCB. Although drug names may vary from one country to the next. :)

              Luc Pattyn [Forum Guidelines] [Why QA sucks] [My Articles]


              I only read formatted code with indentation, so please use PRE tags for code snippets.


              I'm not participating in frackin' Q&A, so if you want my opinion, ask away in a real forum (or on my profile page).


              1 Reply Last reply
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              • realJSOPR realJSOP

                I don't nee help yet, I'm just toying with the idea...

                .45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly
                -----
                "Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
                -----
                "The staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - J. Jystad, 2001

                M Offline
                M Offline
                Mustafa Ismail Mustafa
                wrote on last edited by
                #9

                Sure thing. Installations are dead simple. If you need anything, just drop me an email.

                If the post was helpful, please vote, eh! Current activities: Book: Devils by Fyodor Dostoyevsky Project: Hospital Automation, final stage Learning: Image analysis, LINQ Now and forever, defiant to the end. What is Multiple Sclerosis[^]?

                1 Reply Last reply
                0
                • realJSOPR realJSOP

                  I was thinking of replacing my Zyxel Zywall2 router with a PC running a Linux/BSD-based firewall distribution. I've kinda decided on Monowall for the software end of it. Does anyone have any experience with it? The hardware will be a motherboard with 3 PCIe slots for NIC cards, a low-power CPU, and 2gb RAM, and a small SSD (16gb).

                  .45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly
                  -----
                  "Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
                  -----
                  "The staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - J. Jystad, 2001

                  modified on Saturday, May 15, 2010 8:29 AM

                  L Offline
                  L Offline
                  leppie
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #10

                  John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote:

                  The hardware will be a motherboard with 3 PCIe slots for NIC cards, a low-power CPU, and 2gb RAM, and a small SSD (16gb).

                  Your hardware is total overkill for Monowall. IIRC, they target embedded CPU's. A Celeron 350 with 64mb RAM and a 10MB harddisk is sufficient.

                  xacc.ide
                  IronScheme - 1.0 RC 1 - out now!
                  ((λ (x) `(,x ',x)) '(λ (x) `(,x ',x))) The Scheme Programming Language – Fourth Edition

                  realJSOPR 1 Reply Last reply
                  0
                  • L leppie

                    John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote:

                    The hardware will be a motherboard with 3 PCIe slots for NIC cards, a low-power CPU, and 2gb RAM, and a small SSD (16gb).

                    Your hardware is total overkill for Monowall. IIRC, they target embedded CPU's. A Celeron 350 with 64mb RAM and a 10MB harddisk is sufficient.

                    xacc.ide
                    IronScheme - 1.0 RC 1 - out now!
                    ((λ (x) `(,x ',x)) '(λ (x) `(,x ',x))) The Scheme Programming Language – Fourth Edition

                    realJSOPR Offline
                    realJSOPR Offline
                    realJSOP
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #11

                    leppie wrote:

                    Your hardware is total overkill for Monowall.

                    Did you read their hardware requirements? This is going to support a GB LAN (with VPN capability), and to achieve decent throughput, you need at least a 2ghz cpu and a couple gb of RAM. I want decent throughput. Besides, how many embedded machines have you seen with more than one RJ-45 jack? To be a router you need at least two jacks. Since most PC motherboards I've seen only have one, that means I also need to buy at least one additional PCIe NIC, as well. As far as CPUs are concerned, it's getting tough to find something that wouldn't be overkill for a router. If I back off on the SSD and just get a laptop hard drive, the cost comes down to just over $200 for the hardware, and that's if I get a Sempron single core CPU ($32). I wonder if getting a multi-core CPU will help the VPN side with encryption/decryption... Oh yeah - try to find any of the hardware you suggested - anywhere. Celerons cannot be had, much less a motherboard to put it on (that also has onboard video and GB LAN). The smallest laptop SATA2 hard drive I could find was 80GB. Seriously... why buy hardware that's no longer supported, not to mention difficult to find? For what it's worth, I have several old Socket 939 Athlon dual core CPUs, gigabytes of DDR memory, almost a dozen "spare" hard drives, and a couple of 500-700 watt PSUs laying around. What's missing? a Socket-939 motherboard with the desired on-board components. My only recourse is to buy all new stuff.

                    .45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly
                    -----
                    "Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
                    -----
                    "The staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - J. Jystad, 2001

                    L R 2 Replies Last reply
                    0
                    • realJSOPR realJSOP

                      leppie wrote:

                      Your hardware is total overkill for Monowall.

                      Did you read their hardware requirements? This is going to support a GB LAN (with VPN capability), and to achieve decent throughput, you need at least a 2ghz cpu and a couple gb of RAM. I want decent throughput. Besides, how many embedded machines have you seen with more than one RJ-45 jack? To be a router you need at least two jacks. Since most PC motherboards I've seen only have one, that means I also need to buy at least one additional PCIe NIC, as well. As far as CPUs are concerned, it's getting tough to find something that wouldn't be overkill for a router. If I back off on the SSD and just get a laptop hard drive, the cost comes down to just over $200 for the hardware, and that's if I get a Sempron single core CPU ($32). I wonder if getting a multi-core CPU will help the VPN side with encryption/decryption... Oh yeah - try to find any of the hardware you suggested - anywhere. Celerons cannot be had, much less a motherboard to put it on (that also has onboard video and GB LAN). The smallest laptop SATA2 hard drive I could find was 80GB. Seriously... why buy hardware that's no longer supported, not to mention difficult to find? For what it's worth, I have several old Socket 939 Athlon dual core CPUs, gigabytes of DDR memory, almost a dozen "spare" hard drives, and a couple of 500-700 watt PSUs laying around. What's missing? a Socket-939 motherboard with the desired on-board components. My only recourse is to buy all new stuff.

                      .45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly
                      -----
                      "Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
                      -----
                      "The staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - J. Jystad, 2001

                      L Offline
                      L Offline
                      leppie
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #12

                      John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote:

                      Did you read their hardware requirements? This is going to support a GB LAN (with VPN capability), and to achieve decent throughput, you need at least a 2ghz cpu and a couple gb of RAM. I want decent throughput.

                      Sorry I did not.

                      John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote:

                      Besides, how many embedded machines have you seen with more than one RJ-45 jack? To be a router you need at least two jacks.

                      My Routerboard 500 has 3 NIC and 2 wifi.

                      John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote:

                      blah blah blah

                      :) If you want fast ports, just get a gigabit switch. The road to the internet and back will always be slow.

                      xacc.ide
                      IronScheme - 1.0 RC 1 - out now!
                      ((λ (x) `(,x ',x)) '(λ (x) `(,x ',x))) The Scheme Programming Language – Fourth Edition

                      1 Reply Last reply
                      0
                      • realJSOPR realJSOP

                        leppie wrote:

                        Your hardware is total overkill for Monowall.

                        Did you read their hardware requirements? This is going to support a GB LAN (with VPN capability), and to achieve decent throughput, you need at least a 2ghz cpu and a couple gb of RAM. I want decent throughput. Besides, how many embedded machines have you seen with more than one RJ-45 jack? To be a router you need at least two jacks. Since most PC motherboards I've seen only have one, that means I also need to buy at least one additional PCIe NIC, as well. As far as CPUs are concerned, it's getting tough to find something that wouldn't be overkill for a router. If I back off on the SSD and just get a laptop hard drive, the cost comes down to just over $200 for the hardware, and that's if I get a Sempron single core CPU ($32). I wonder if getting a multi-core CPU will help the VPN side with encryption/decryption... Oh yeah - try to find any of the hardware you suggested - anywhere. Celerons cannot be had, much less a motherboard to put it on (that also has onboard video and GB LAN). The smallest laptop SATA2 hard drive I could find was 80GB. Seriously... why buy hardware that's no longer supported, not to mention difficult to find? For what it's worth, I have several old Socket 939 Athlon dual core CPUs, gigabytes of DDR memory, almost a dozen "spare" hard drives, and a couple of 500-700 watt PSUs laying around. What's missing? a Socket-939 motherboard with the desired on-board components. My only recourse is to buy all new stuff.

                        .45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly
                        -----
                        "Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
                        -----
                        "The staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - J. Jystad, 2001

                        R Offline
                        R Offline
                        Robert Surtees
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #13

                        Jetway makes a spiffy bit of kit suited for this sort of thing. http://www.mini-box.com/Jetway-Hybrid-J7F2WE2G[^] with 3 port gigabit daughterboard[^]. Highly recommend mini-box -- have bought loads of stuff from them with no problems.

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