Re: Firewall recommendations?

["David M. Fetter" <david.fetter () fetterconsulting com>]

I think you're on the right track when looking at ipchains (which 
actually has been replaced by iptables/netfilter).  You can use freeswan 
as an add-on to the linux based firewall which will give you vpn 
support.  Also, there is support under linux for pptp and l2tp with some 
features turned on.  If you don't want to go through manually 
configuring iptables you could always use fwbuilder which is a nice gui 
interface and can basically provide you with a script for use on your 
linux firewall.  The outcome here is that you would have a good firewall 
solution at a low cost.

rdusek () myway com wrote:
> I am in charge of researching a firewall to replace what we currently 
> have.  At my previous job I had used Microsoft ISA in a low-security 
> environment, and was happy with its features, and its integration with 
> the Windows environment there.  However, at my current job, security is a 
> much greater concern, and I have to admit, I am somewhat uneasy running a 
> Microsoft firewall product on top of a Microsoft OS. We also had 
> investigated Checkpoint as well as Cisco Pix, and found that for our 
> needs, the Pix at least seemed to need _many_ separate components for the 
> same functionality. My question is what are your experiences with using 
> ISA from a security standpoint? Usability issues? From the Mac end? Or 
> would we be better off pursuing the Checkpoint or the Pix solution? We 
> also plan on implementing VPN over whatever we choose, so if you 
> recommend something other than these, it should support at least PPTP and 
> perhaps eventually IPSec/L2TP.  We have also considered placing ISA 
> behind a Linux (or BSD) IP Chains firewall and our perimeter network to 
> block some of the traffic from getting to ISA. Any comments here? Thanks 
> to everybody in advance!


--
David M. Fetter - http://www.fetterconsulting.com/

"The world is full of power and energy and a person can go far by just 
skimming off a tiny bit of it." Neal Stephenson - Snow Crash