compaq proliant ml370 as linux firewall

[qavorq]

Hi folk. this is my first posting here so I hope its in the right place.
I have an old Compaq Proliant ml370 (G1) which I want to use as a linux based hardware firewall. I tried to install smoothwall 3.0 but it keeps telling me it cant find any harddrive (it is definaltey there as I have since installed debian netstart on it to prove it works).
I was wondering if anyone has any recommendations of any linux firewalls that will run on the ml370? Please remember Im inexperienced with linux so I need something that has easy to follow documentation - (not too much technobabble). It will be connected to a windows/linux based home network so ease of use is important.

thanks
Antony

 

[rubix_1011]

I was planning on doing the same thing with my Dell 667L that I have laying around; drop Smoothwall onto it and see how it works. Hopefully we can get a few responses to someone running PC-based firewalls...Smoothwall a good choice, or please list other alternatives. I have SUSE 10 at home as well, if that is a viable (although, more advanced) option.

 

[waynefrancis]

I've just picked up one of these servers to replace my old SW box. Thing to note is that SW doesn't look at the SCSI drives out of the box. I simply added a 40g IDE above the CD Drive an installed fine.

 

[Saga Lout]

I've just picked up one of these servers to replace my old SW box. Thing to note is that SW doesn't look at the SCSI drives out of the box. I simply added a 40g IDE above the CD Drive an installed fine.

You're spot on wit the SCSI issue and another thing with the old Proliant is that if there isn't a drive or a blind carrier firmly rammed into all the ports, nothing doesn't anyhing properly. Mine needs a good kick sometimes to persuade it to work. It's still a jolly good "PC" for the £35 I paid for it and mine runs the KDE4 version of PCLinuxOS and acts as a server.[/#000ff]

 

[waynefrancis]

Further investigations shows that smoothwall doesn't support scsi at all, again without modding the kernal. Additionally some if not all ML370s don't allow booting at all from any IDE HDD.

The boot order on my machine is CD-ROM, Floppy Drive, C-Drive determined by another table.
The other table shows IDE as 2nd in the list with no ability to move it. You can move the other 4 SCSI options around but the server will only boot from an IDE CD-Rom an not any IDE HDD.

I just downloaded Slackware and Ubuntu in hopes of getting them up and running on the ML370 and using them as a firewall. If that fails I might try Either 2008 Small business Server or 2008 home server, both 32bit versions. Actually I'll try PCLinuxOS before that.

I'm a bit of a linux newb so any advice on a firewall to put on the linux distro would be helpful

 

[Saga Lout]

I'm a bit of a linux newb so any advice on a firewall to put on the linux distro would be helpful

Can't help really as I depend on my router's hardware firewall and don't regard the Linux systems here to be under threat. The M$ systems use the Windows firewall but I'm a pretty conservative surfer and always pass the ShieldsUp test at http://www.grc.com whenever I take it.

PCLinuxOS is among several dozen which will fit on a stick which in turn is easily made bootable if your system allows USB Legacy Support. Can't remember if mine does or not and I can't turn it off to look at the moment.