Install Linux as a Network Router

[Jeff]

I am new to Linux and am interested in replacing our Windows router with a Linux router. I would like to eventually be able to capture network traffic between three segments using Ethereal but have a couple of questions.

1. I currently have Red Hat Linux 9. Is this an OK version of Linux to use as a router or should I use something else?

2. Should the machine be be setup as a server or workstation?

3. Is there any documentation that exists for setting up Linux as a router for multiple segments?

[rajsmilesalways]

you can definitely do it

bcos of the posix compliance in linux it works better and faster than windows

you can configure your system as a router by doing the following things
routing between lan& wan ___ i mean natting

/etc/sysctl.conf
change the following value to one
net.ipv4.ip_forward = 0 <-> 1

write a simple snat rule using tcp wrappers i.e your iptables

iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -i <interface_internal_network> -s <ur_network/CIDR.no>
-j SNAT --to-source <ur_external_ipaddress>

[Jeff]

Thanks for the reply. Does it matter if Linux is setup as a server or workstation if I'm using as a router?

[rajsmilesalways]

Well installin it as a Server or a Work Station both are same it doesnt matter at all , installing it as a server installs other servers like http,ftp,.....

I think There would be a difference between enterprise version and genreal open source version .

[Jeff]

Thanks for the info!