Internet Gateway

[Dan Murphy]

At 01:39 AM 3/22/96 GMT, Ronald E. Young wrote:
>My company is planning a connection to the Internet.  We have a dozen users on
>a
>Novell 3.11 IPX LAN running Windows 3.1, 3.11, '95, and OS/2.  We are also
>setting 
>up a Windows NT Server for Imaging and MS-Mail.  Internet providers
>are suggesting that we have a gateway machine connecting to them over a
>leased
>line with 28.8K modems.  The gateway machine would periodically poll for mail
>and distribute it to our users.  Also our users should be able to go out onto
>the
>Web.  The gateway should protect our network from intrusion.  The Internet
>provider
>would host our Web page on the provider's computers.
>
>What is our most cost-effective solution for a gateway machine, considering
>both 
>time and money?  The provider suggested getting an integrator or a
>consultant.  
>Some suggested Linux.  


If you have a bit of time and not a lot of money, I highly recommend Linux. Here's my story.

A little over a year ago, our company (2 people) needed a connection to a mainframe in Cambridge. We could have just gotten a leased line to the site, but they had an Internet connection. So, we looked at prices of getting our own Internet connection, and found a provider that cost the same as the leased line to Cambridge. For the same price, we got a lot more for our money. A no-brainer. Now to set up the conection.

The provider suggested using Linux for our Gateway. We said "Huh? Lenox? What's that?". The next thing I knew I was FTPing (using a BBS) all sorts of HowTos, manuals, sources, and the Slackware distribution from tsx-11.

Now, let me fill you in. I'm a mainframer. I knew little or nothing about:
- Unix
- TCP/IP
- networking
- all the other sh*t you guys don't even know you know :)


We had a 486-SX33 with a 340MB HDD hanging around, so it ended up being our machine. After a short while, I had Linux booted up - I was totally amazed at the painlessness of it. A little while later, we had the SLIP connection set up, and were connected to the provider. Email came next. Later on, we had a web server, PPP dialin, etc.

All this from an absolute Unix newbie. I was amazed at how easy the Slackware distribution got things running for me. And it's even easier now with CD's. That gateway ran flawlessly - it NEVER crashed. Since then, I've been a Linux fan, subscribing to the "Linux Journal", etc. Maybe it's just because I'm cheap...

Your company sounds a lot like my old company - it's small, so it can't spend a lot of money on hardware, consultants, software, etc. For just the price of a relatively simple, cheap PC, you're up and running in a week or so. If you have any problems, you have this maillist and all sorts of other help out there.

Anyways, that's my .02.

Dan "if I can do it, anybody can" Murphy



Dan Murphy                 murph at vmark.com
Vmark Software             74260.3322 at compuserve.com
Westboro, MA