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Anyone use proxy server software?

J

JHowse

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This is what I want to do.

I would like to see if I can make my PIII box go through my 486 (used as a proxy box) to my dialup connection. This is just an "I'm really bored and lonely" project to keep me busy over the coming weekend. If it works great, I may even move my 56k modem to the 486 and proxy through it, using the LAN connection...if not...it's just a cute toy to play with.

So here are my questions:

1) What's the best (free) software to use?
2) If there is no good free software, what is the cheapest good software to use?
3) Is there anyone who can guide a newbie to proxy servers on how to do it? I am familiar with networking, just unfamiliar with the details of proxying.

Thanks! :)
 
I've got a very similar setup to what you describe. I have an old pentium 100 (used to use a 486, but moved up in the world) sitting all by its lonesome. It's got two NICs and a modem. I've got cable, so one NIC goes to the cable modem, and the other to my switch. The modem is a relic, sometimes used when the cable goes down.


Anyway, the box (called "gate" aren't I creative?) runs Linux (Debian 2.2) with IPMasq (aka NAT) and all my other boxes are set up to use gate as the gateway.


So what it boils down to is this, you've got an internal private network, say, 192.168.1.0/255.255.255.0 and the gateway sits on that and the real internet. When it gets packets destined outside your private net it rewrites them such that they appear to have come from it and sends them on. When it gets a response it does the reverse rewrite and sends to the waiting box.


Hope I didn't give you too much info you already knew. If you like, I can dig up some links, but it's quite late, so it'll have to wait 'til tomorrow.


Oh, to answer your OS/Software question. It's my belief that Win98 supports this (they call it "Internet Connection Sharing") but I've never tried it, so I don't know if that's what it really is. I don't know about any other windows software. (Not that you'd want to run windows on a 486, anyway.) FreeBSD (probably other BSDs too) supports it under the name NAT. Linux, as mentioned, calles it IP Masquerading.


Feel free to drop me an email or find me on AIM if you have any questions.


PS: You'll note that this isn't the same as proxying. That would be slightly simpler, but this is a more robust and generic solution.


Edit: PPS: Sorry if that was somewhat incoherent, but like I said, it's late.


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Hindsight is always 20-20. But looking back it's still a bit fuzzy. --Mustaine

<font color="#000000">[Edited by zmifwaf on October 13, 2000 (edited 1 time)]</font>
 
i recommend ipmasq for linux
and sygate for windows, though it's not "free" persay
has a trial though
tongue.gif


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http://www.moonsee.com *Updated* (kinda :))
http://mp3.com/moonsee
 
With Linux, you really don't need any 3rd party app. Just use IPmasq and IPchains (free).

Re: Sygate (pay)...
It does appear to be one of the better packages right now, due to it's ease of installation, feature set, and small footprint.
However, I did come across a rather major bug that Sygate tech support acknowledged. If you have Norton System Works installed (I have NSW2.0, but they didn't specify a version), you will get fatal exceptions of both symtray and explorer shortly following bootup. While this doesn't render the OS unusuable, it is decidely inconvenient.

I've also used WinProxy (pay) and tried WinGate (pay), and didn't like either.
WinProxy suddenly decided that it didn't want to work anymore. All remote clients on my network could spontaneously lose connectivity to the outside.
WinGate lost points with me because a) you have to install a client-side component and b) I couldn't get it to work.

A few other options...
Get a WinNT server set up and use Proxy Server (pay).
Install Win98SE all around and use ICS (free)
Install WinME all around and use ICS (free)
Install 2000 and use ICS (free)


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spidergoolash: "heh, a cup of diesel dan - mwahhha"
me: "heh, a cup of me is like a cup of heaven!"
 
in my opinion winproxy, and win98 sharing both suck
winroute.....well.....i liked it until 4.0
i also never liked the fact that winroute....well i guess it sticks the server machine behind the "gateway" also, in a way
when you close winroute EVERY machine, INCLUDING the server, loses inet connection for a few seconds
thats the main reason i switched to sygate

to be totally honest though jh
if you don't mind dishing out some cash
dsl/cable routers are very nice
i love my linksys one, a lot less hassle
though i assume you would be turning your "old 486 with a tv tuner" into a gateway?

----------------------------
http://www.moonsee.com *Updated* (kinda :))
http://mp3.com/moonsee
 
Put it this way... If you have the time, make this a learning experience, and install Linux on the 486 and use ipchains and ipmasq.

If not, then use a Win32-based solution like Sygate.


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spidergoolash: "heh, a cup of diesel dan - mwahhha"
me: "heh, a cup of me is like a cup of heaven!"
 
I'd put LINUX on the 486 if I didn't have an older scanner (awesome optical scanner...top of the line 3 years ago) and a TV tuner card in there. So I'm doing Win98 SE and ICS all around. I just need time to play with ICS, but it should be no problem to set up. I almost went with ME, but after Taz's experience....UH UH!!!! No way!

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Does driving a car from Saturn make me an alien?
 
Just my experience with ICS...
Worked for a while, but eventually degraded to the point where the client machines couldn't find the Internet until a reboot of BOTH cliend and server, until the point when reboots would no longer resolve the issue.

Got the newest Sygate, and all has worked flawlessly since. If that changes, I'll keep you posted.

There's really nothing to play with on ICS. Just run the Wizard and you're pretty much set.


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spidergoolash: "heh, a cup of diesel dan - mwahhha"
me: "heh, a cup of me is like a cup of heaven!"
 
Nice thing is, SE seems a lot more stable than the 98 regular and 95 OSR2. We'll see, though. Still won't be as good as NT, but hey, I don't think I will run into the ME issues that everyone is moaning about.

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Does driving a car from Saturn make me an alien?
 
On a semi-related note...
Have you thought about Win2000? It also features an ICS component which is a little more robust than Win98SE's, and if you're versed enough to navigate NT, you should be able to handle 2000.


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spidergoolash: "heh, a cup of diesel dan - mwahhha"
me: "heh, a cup of me is like a cup of heaven!"
 
So explain to me the pro's and con's of each OS's ICS for me...besides...if I use 2000 on a 486, that would be laughable.
lol.gif


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Does driving a car from Saturn make me an alien?
 
Probably, unless you loaded it up with some serious RAM. I've seen a 486 with a ton of RAM beat the snot out of a Pentium 133 with a little RAM in business apps and general OS operation.

As for the pros and cons, Win2000 gives you more flexibility in configuration. It allows you to restrict or allow access based on computer, user, or group. Win98SE ICS only allows you to set up client machines, which you could honestly do manually, since all it does is adjust things like proxy settings, browser settings and preferences, etc.

Still, I would recommend a 3rd party app over ICS because you get things like firewall protection, anti-virus, etc. Sure, if you have a dedicated firewall, then a software firewall is pathetic in comparison, but how many home users have a dedicated firewall?


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spidergoolash: "heh, a cup of diesel dan - mwahhha"
me: "heh, a cup of me is like a cup of heaven!"
 
I'm not really into it for the big time...just want to play around with it....But I did get it working. Rather cool, too. I could see using Win2K on a broadband connection, though

And yes, that 486 performs almost like a Pentium class machine due to it having a PCI bus and 2 IDE headers (1 PCI and 1 ISA - just barely EIDE.....barely....), but with MaxBlast and a lot of massaging, I have 10 GB of drive space in there and an external CD-ROM. Also run a proprietary optical scanner on it that comes with it's own proprietary interface card (TWAIN compliant device). Thing does better at running Win98 than my ex's POS Celery 333....
lol.gif
It's sad, really.
lol.gif
But she couldn't optimize her way out of a wet paper sack...
lol.gif


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Does driving a car from Saturn make me an alien?
 
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