Re: [TCLUG:8178] old systems as routers, uptime

["Daniel M. Debertin" <katdan@mninter.net>]

On Thu, 9 Sep 1999, Christopher Reid Palmer wrote:

> "Daniel M. Debertin" wrote:
> 
> > I have, as it turns out, not quite the same thing. I have static-IP
> > DSL, which means that my router is set up in bridging mode, and the actual
> > NAT is done by a linux box -- a 486 that has been up for almost 40 days at
> > a time, I might add :).
> 
> Just out of curiosity, what is it that brings your system down after ~40
> days? I am going to set up an old bit of hardware to do just what you're
> talking about, and more (mail, CVS, Web, FTP). What kinds of things
> should I be on the lookout for?

Truthfully, I have had close to zero crashes. The thing that brings me
down after those large lengths of time are things like kernel upgrades, or
the desire to try out FreeBSD :). As far as running services like the ones
you mention on your machine, it works fine, although I'll warn you -- if
this is going to be a firewall box, every service you run on it is a
potentially exploitable hole. A bare-bones, I-just-do-packet-filtering
sort of box is best as far as security is concerned (and security is a
concern is you are connected 24/7 at the same IP address like me). If
you've got the resources, I would strongly recommend running DNS, Web etc.
on an internal box behind the firewall.

Dan Debertin
katdan@mninter.net