[KLUG Members] question about Linux-based firewall/router/AP appliance

[Bruce Smith]

> >You lost me.  (no need to clarify, that would imply I care :)
> You're losing easily! :)
> 
> If you don't care, don't reply.

Well, I care about the mobo (below), otherwise I wouldn't have replied.

> >My point is since D-L "supports" running from a USB device means D-L
> >comes with a script to set things up, and if it doesn't work the  
> >developers
> >will fix it (or do their best to fix it).
> Well, it turns out that the most recent releases if IPCop support
> flash, etc.

That's cool.  I was going by a previous email message that said it could
be done, and didn't mention that it was supported.  Made it sound like a
hack, but I'm glad it's not.

> >One other point is USB flash drives have a VERY LIMITED number of
> >writes (compared to a hard drive), which leads me to believe that  
> >running
> >a distro like ipcop on a USB drive is NOT a good idea since it is  
> >constantly writing to the media (log files, etc.).
> 
> >From the IPCop 1.4.0 manual, Appendix C:
> "You may be wondering about the viability of such a system, given the  
> limits on the number of times a compact flash can be written to.  
> IPCop changes its file system attributes so that the last file access 
> time  is not recorded on the flash's simulated hard drive.  Logs and 
> other temporary files are kept on a ram disk. The logs are compressed 
> weekly, at shutdown and when the ram disk begins to fill  up.  Using 
> this strategy, it has been estimated that a compact flash should be  
> able to last 5 years."
> 
> Probably long enough...

That's cool.  Hopefully they support remote logging (over the network)
to make the media last even longer!

> >What brand/make of mobo?  I'd like to find something like that!!!
> 
> I'll find out, if you're interested. At the time, I thought it was fairly
> generic.

Yes, I'm very interested.  I'd like to have a firewall without any
moving parts, but I don't want to spend the money for a new mobo 
(or any of the other expensive alternatives like IDE-CF).

Was it an old name-brand PC?  (Dell, HP, ... )

 - BS