Subj : Port Blocking
To   : Stewart Buckingham
From : Peter Knapper
Date : Sun Apr 07 2002 06:46 am

Hi Stewart,

> Overall, my strongest recommendation is to implement an external Firewall, > 
that makes securing things a LOT easier than trying to do it on the "target"
> machine. With the right S/W, just about any old PC can do the job as an
> external Firewall.

 SB> I have enough old hardware lying around here I could 
 SB> probably build something. Although somehow I feel that 
 SB> this seems like a lot of trouble to go thru for a dial-
 SB> up internet connection. 

Hey, I use it for MY Dial-up connection, whays wrong with that???.....;-)

 SB> Presumably I then have to learn 
 SB> all about networking the 2 pc's together. I dread the 
 SB> thought but love the idea of more tinkering :)

Yep, its a great way of learning about these things, you get to build a real 
environment, learn about Networking, figure out Routing, find out about 
security, all the things that make a network tick. Note that it also means you 
need Warp 3 CONNECT or Warp 4 to get all the LAN stuff native...

 SB> Where do I find this FREESCO and where can I get clear 
 SB> instructions on how to network these 2 pc's together? 

The MAIN Freesco home is www.freesco.org, however there are heaps of others 
around as well. All base off the original product, newsgroups, mailing lists, 
etc... Its very popular, especially in Europe and (the ex) USSR...

As for networking 2 PC's, then I am sure people in the OS/2 Echo's can help 
with al that, one thing about TCP/IP, it works pretty much the same for all 
platforms, even if M$ do try and make it obscure.....;-)

 SB> Would there be any advantage in having firewall machine 
 SB> running OS/2 instead?

About all it would provide is platform familiarity for you, however OS/2 does 
not have all the $0 items that Linux has, and you leave yourself open to the 
same issue of playing on your Firewall machine......;-)

 SB> I'll also persevere with the IBM Firewall thingy :)

Sure, it will get you thinking in the right direction.......;-) Basically, a 
Firewall should have 2 "sides" to it, a Secure side, and an Insecure side. The 
ONLY traffic that the S/W allows to pass between those interfaces is the 
traffic YOU want it to pass. EVERYTHING else should be blocked or dropped.

Happy playing............pk.


--- Maximus/2 3.01
 * Origin: Another Good Point About OS/2 (3:772/1.10)

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