Firewall and FTP server

I wouldn't bother buying expensive firewall but get a copy of "Pizza Box Linux" which will also give you full web servers. A pc like a 486, 16mb RAM and a 1gig hard disk with 2 network interfaces.

Pizza Box will give you a good firewall if configured properly but it cannot be multiboot. You can have a internal and an external interface. Anyway this is what a "hardware" firewall is. Linux is rather easy to learn with "very" good documentation.

Good Luck and tell me your solution.

Chris Allen

Linux wouldn't be a "Hardware" solution but many good firewalls do run on it. I don't trust Proxy or ISA by Microsoft but many use it. SonicWall, Cisco and a few others are hardware solutions but beware, some of these run small versions of Windows(DSL routers/firewalls). Where to put the FTP? Best put on a DMZ if you can afford that complex a setup. Outside leaves it open to attack and generaly not reachable by you. Inside you need to be careful about access and what you open to it.

If all you want to do is setup an FTP site, I would suggest getting the program SERV-U. It very inexpensive and very user friendly.