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| Click here to select a new forum. | | Mac firewall software?? | Posted by: Maconthemove on 2007-07-05 22:40:03
Is there any mac software to turn a Compact or newer system into a
firewall?
| Posted by: funkytoad on 2007-07-09 10:56:50
I bet there is.
It will require lots of searching though.
| Posted by: MacG4 on 2007-07-09 11:20:10
I bet there is.It will require lots of searching though. yeah because u dont need it | Posted by: Unknown_K on 2007-07-09 13:27:41
You can probably find a linux firewall/router software boot disk that might work on a Mac.
| Posted by: Maconthemove on 2007-07-09 20:11:53
I will searchout the linux route.
| Posted by: beachycove on 2007-07-10 06:02:15
Is there any mac software to turn a Compact or newer system into afirewall? Vicomsoft's Softrouter Plus is obviously a router, but also has firewall functionality. I don't know how viable it is as a firewall product, but it was reputed to be a robust MacOS product, AND it runs on (some) 68k and ppc hardware. I doubt that you'd get much mileage out of it on a compact (if for no other reason than that ethernet is surely needed), but maybe an SE30? Certainly a Quadra or an old Nubus ppc should do the trick.
I had it around here once upon a time.... Maybe still do. I seem to recall that it was "optimized" for ppc, and this may mean 68040 or higher, in keeping with other software trajectories of the time. But you can hunt down these details.
| Posted by: Maconthemove on 2007-07-11 11:20:55
Thanks
| Posted by: paws on 2007-07-11 13:56:33
The thing is that a firewall will require at least two network interfaces - one that connects to the outside and one for each of the internal networks you want to connect. I can't think of anyway to put two NICs in any compact...
I say get a Mac IIci or similar, and two supported NuBus NICs, and put OpenBSD on it and use pf. I don't think you'll get a more secure system than an OpenBSD system with every thing but pf and whichever proxies you need turned off, and I can't imagine it being much of a problem for a Mac IIci, strainwise.
In fact, I think that would be a pretty decent semi-retirement for an old Mac🙂
If you want to run a firewall, stay away from Linux. It's not as secure, the documentation isn't as good, and whatever advantages Linux has, such as better hardware support for some platforms and a slightly better audio infrastructure, are a non-issue. The OpenBSD installation will take a bit of work + reading, particularly the disk partitioning, but don't be scared, it's really not too bad once you get to grips with it, and once it's up, it's up.
Generally, I think there's very little reason to run Linux over BSD except for when you want something free for a desktop that's easy to install and somewhat idiot proof (like if you're tired of reinstalling Windows on your parents' computer), in which case Ubuntu is very good.
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