Craig Sanders wrote:
I strongly recommend you get a little netbook computer like an eeepc to handle the internet connection, iptables, dns cache, dhcp server, asterisk and similar relatively light tasks. maybe even squid proxy.
can also act as a wireless AP if you install and configure hostapd.
+1, except I would normally use a Netgear WNDR3800 running OpenWRT.[0] I don't like using netbooks for that role unless the project budget is $0 and there's a spare one rotting on a shelf. Aside from the lack of onboard UPS cf. netbooks, the other main malus would be you can't run a general-purpose x86 OS on it. [0] the ideal OpenWRT platform changes over time. TP-Link 1043ND is also current gen, cheaper, but can't be unbricked without opening the case -- not an issue unless you roll custom OpenWRT builds.
low power usage, and as it's a laptop it effectively has a 6+ hour UPS built-in
Bear in mind that what was originally a 6h battery is, by the time it becomes a hand-me-down router it's probably only 2h or 4h. (Well, I guess it depends how hard you use your netbooks, and how often you replace them.)
(but you'll need a separate UPS for the ADSL modem anyway unless you have a USB and USB-powered ADSL modem - if any exist, that is).
Good point.
also, do you really want your file server to be your internet gateway and firewall? that's a completely hypocritical question, btw :)
We used to do that, on the basis that fewer boxes = more gooder. Our BCP nowadays is to keep them separate, because 1) they're totally different rôles; and 2) failures often break one or the other, but not both. It's useful to a business if e.g. while their fileserver is down, they can still get to the internet.