[TriLUG] Best appliance for Linux firewall?

Steve Pinkham steve.pinkham at gmail.com
Thu Aug 8 10:49:40 EDT 2013


I would not go with the WRT54GL anymore as it's pretty slow these days
and doesn't even route fast enough for many home connections. The
WNDR3800 is well supported by openwrt and one often recommended at the
moment.

The ALIX line is another one to consider for your use case, or you could
get one of many small atom computers.


On 08/08/2013 09:57 AM, Brian Henning wrote:
> Hi Gang!
> 
> At home, pretty much all my services and stuff run on a single box, and that
> box is starting to collapse under the weight.  I'm ready to start divvying
> up functions across discrete devices.  First to go is the firewall; not a
> heavy-hitter, but easy to carve off.  So, what do people suggest as the best
> appliance-form-factor Linux computer?  Obviously 2+ NICs is the biggest
> priority.  Here's what I've considered so far:
> 
> 1) WRT54GL + OpenWRT
>   Pros: Inexpensive, solid
>   Cons: Don't need another WAP
> 
> 2) Globalscale Mirabox
>   Pros: Fast ARM CPU, could host additional services w/ outboard USB HDD
>   Cons: Globalscale's iffy reputation, relatively unproven product, more
> expensive, possible to perma-brick
> 
> 3) ???
> 
> Enough storage to do traffic monitoring would be a plus as well.
> 
> Cheers!
> ~Brian
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------ 
>           Brian Henning, Software Engineer
> 
>     /\    Pine Research Instrumentation 
>    //\\   2741 Campus Walk Ave, Bldg 100 
>   ///\\\  Durham, NC 27705 
>  ////\\\\ USA 
>     || 
>     ||    phone: 919.782.8320 
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>           email: bhenning at pineinst.com 
> ------------------------------------------------------ 
> 
> 
> 
> 


-- 
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