A firewall is an important security component that blocks unauthorized access from outside a network while allowing authorized communication to continue. The purpose is to protect servers and workstations on the network from being compromised by hacking. A firewall can be a software program, suite of programs, hardware device or a computer configured to monitor incoming and outgoing network activity. If you don't want to spend money buying a firewall, you can turn an old computer into one by installing a free, open-source software called IPCop.
Instructions
1. Install a second network card into the old computer in a free PCI card slot. The old computer must have two network cards, a hard drive with a capacity of at least 300MB and a working CD-ROM drive installed.
2. Download the latest IPCop ISO file onto the workstation computer (see Resources). Use CD-burning software to burn the ISO onto a blank CD-ROM disc, creating an IPCop boot disc.
3. Insert the IPCop CD into the old computer and boot the computer to the CD. This may require you to change the boot sequence in the system BIOS. The first screen you will see after booting to the CD is a warning that all of the data on the old computer will be erased if you choose to install IPCop. Press the "Enter" key at the "boot:" prompt to continue.
4. Select your preferred language for installing IPCop and press the "Enter" key. Select "CD-ROM" as the installation source and press the "Enter" key. Press "Enter" to confirm the partition and installation of program files. Choose "Skip" and press "Enter."
5. Select "Probe" and press "Enter" to detect your network card. Enter the IP address "192.168.1.1" in the "Green" interface and press "OK." The IPCop disc will be ejected. Remove the disc from the CD drive tray and press the "OK" button.
6. Select the keyboard layout and timezone. Leave the hostname set to "ipcop" and the domain name set to "localdomain." Press the "Tab" key to disable ISDN and press the "Enter" key. Select "Network Configuration Type," scroll down to select "Green + Red," press "Tab" to highlight "OK" and press "Enter."
7. Select "Drivers and Card Assignments" and press the "Enter" key. Select "Probe" to detect the "Red" network card and assign a card to be the "Red" network card. Press "Tab" to highlight "OK" and press "Enter." Choose "Address Settings" and press "Enter." Select "Red" and press the "Enter" key. Use the spacebar to select "DHCP," select "OK" and press "Enter." Select "Done" and press "Enter."
8. Press the spacebar on the DHCP page to enable DHCP and enter "192.168.0.10" as the starting IP address range. Enter "192.168.0.30" as the ending IP address range. Enter passwords for the root user, admin user and backup user. Press "OK" to reboot.
9. Plug the network cable coming from the DSL modem into the network card in the old computer that was designated as "Red" during the installation process. Plug the network cable leading from the network switch or directly from the network card in your workstation computer (depending on your network configuration) into the other (Green) network card in the old computer.
10. Open a web browser on your workstation computer and type "192.168.1.1:81" into the address bar. Log in as "admin" with the password you set up. You should see the IPCop homepage. From here, you can set up the security settings of the firewall or enable/disable the proxy settings in the "Services > Proxy" area.
11. Check the Internet connection from the computers on the network, making sure that they are able to browse the Internet and send/receive email. The IPCop settings may need to be tweaked depending on your network configuration. If all computers on the network can access the Internet, then IPCop has been installed and your old computer is now a working firewall.
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