As the title enquires I am about to set up a 4 computer network with a single gigabit centralized server to monitor the trafic and so it can keep track of the data packets being sent and receaved.. sorta like an advanced version of a hardware firewall you might say. specs for this machine are 256 megs of ddr 333 ram 120 gigs of space and a AMD 1800+ xp processor. I am currently not running anything on this machine and dont have any windows operating system to install on it. I am wondering what kind of open source operating system may it be linux or open BSD that i could install on this system to keep track of everything going in and out. To go along with all of this I wonder which is the better way to install this system in a old brick house with a drywall interior and which topology is best to use. We have one computer set up already in the center of the house and are about to have a 3 meg connection installed at a later date (dsl). How would i go about doing this and what is the best way to go about intagrating a wireless router with the ability to communicate with all the computers and the internet on the network. Its a multi step question and they have limited funds and already own 3 routers. any help is welcome.
