Re: Internet Connection Sharing

Tech-Archive recommends: Repair Windows Errors & Optimize Windows Performance


"~~Alan~~" <a.shepro-NoSpam@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:%23DWbfVoHJHA.3736@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I have some time on my hands in addition to an older system and some other things. I want to build a router that will also act as a server/firewall among other things.

I am thinking of building an XP system and configuring ICS or Internet Connection Sharing. This will require two LAN adaptors, one of which will be connected directly to my cable modem (WAN) and the other will have a hub connected to it for my LAN.

On this machine, I want to:
1. connect a printer to share to my LAN, and
2. connect some external USB disk drives for file sharing on the LAN.
3. install anti-virus software and not have to run it on my other systems.
4. configure this applicance to accept VPN connections and with a DDNS client, connect to my LAN from the internet.

I know I will have to configure the LAN side as a DHCP Server

Is this do-able and what do I need to watch out for? What kind of security should I consider on the WAN side. I want to make this thing as dumb as possible on the WAN side just like a home router and have a small file and printer server on the LAN side.

~alan

I really would not rely on one XP system set as a router, being the entire antivirus protection scheme. You should install A/V software on all systems. In the first place, if people have physical access to the other systems, it's very, very easy for malware to be introduced by way of removable media, such as CD, ipod, USB key, etc, and the hosted A/V will not detect it until it's much too late.

You might also consider using a Linux distribution for this instead, as it is more suited to this kind of task. It's actually rather easy to set up a Linux box for file storage and printer host for Windows systems. XP Pro has a hard limit of 10 connections, and you may very well suddenly find yourself out of connections, with only an OS upgrade to server as a fix. This won't be the case with Linux.

HTH
-pk

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Possible to secure WEP?
    ... It doesn't have to be a "server". ... this IP cannot be in the same class C IP block as your own LAN. ... To keep it simple, my gateway router, ... Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection: ...
    (alt.internet.wireless)
  • Re: Server/Network setup question
    ... currently the users are getting IP addresses from DHCP on the router. ... SBS server a static IP address in the same range as the router. ... be in a subnet that is different from the SBS LAN (with their own Internet ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.server.sbs)
  • Re: How safe is this..
    ... >of my LAN I have connected a second Router to the first one (LAN 2 WAN ... >setting up a RADIUS server to secure the wireless side even more. ... contrived for the duration of the connection and not saved anywhere. ...
    (alt.internet.wireless)
  • Re: DMZ / Firewall question
    ... Have a Netgear DSL modem/router with a DMZ port. ... LAN side of the router has a number of XP PCs. ... "DMZ" is really just a virtual server port, ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.network_web)
  • Re: Server/Network setup question
    ... automatically from the DHCP service on the router. ... Since you have two 2 NICs in your SBS server, under other circumstances, ... If you can overcome this rented printer problem, I'd change the LAN IP ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.server.sbs)