Smoothwall router/firewall Project

[scifikg]

Ever since Pat mentioned smoothwall (http://www.smoothwall.org/) on TSS, I've been wanting to build my own firewall/router. Another alternative to smoothwall is ipcop (http://www.ipcop.org). Smoothwall seems more focused on security so I picked it over ipcop.

The Router/firewall Parts:
Syntax Motherboard 1.3Ghz cpu w/ integrated video and NIC.
Dlink PCI NIC
256mb of PNY PC2700 memory
xbox harddrive 7Gb
Sparkle 250W flex power supply
Uniden 5 Port Fast Ethernet Switch
2 vantec stealth fans

I already had the hard drive, fans and NIC. The total value for everything else with tax and shipping was 78 bucks.

I put it all together. Installed smoothwall and I was left with this. Click pics for full size.
http://www.scifikg.com/albums/album15/1_G.thumb.jpg (http://www.scifikg.com/gallery/album15/1_G?full=1)

http://www.scifikg.com/albums/album15/2_G.thumb.jpg (http://www.scifikg.com/gallery/album15/2_G?full=1)

Enclosure
I will be building an acrylic enclosure for all of this. Right now I'm leaning towards a long flat acrylic box. I ordered a couple sheets of lexan 24"x24"x3/16". I think it will be enough. I could use some advice on constructing the case. Specifically, I'm looking for info on how people joined the sides of the box. I'd prefer to stay away from glue and use hinges. If you have seen any cool hinges or saw some acrylic computers with cool hinges please post a link to them.

Theme
The theme will be Fire. It is a firewall after all. Ideas on how I should do this will be welcome.

What's Next
Right now I'm going to move the parts around. Determine the best shaped box to fit them. Then I'm going to do some rewiring so it will fit.


This is gonna be FUN! :D

[JonR]

Syntax Motherboard 1.3Ghz cpu w/ integrated video and NIC

Did you get your rebate on that one yet? I got the 60$ one and recived my rebate today. Free stuff owns. Anyhow I used it as a file server 1.3Ghz is over kill for a small network but anyhow... make it sexy!

Also ipcop is just as good as smoothy. Just a little more involved in setting up. I use smoothy on my gateway. It's hawt. On and its on a P3 550 with 386 ram. 9 gig HDD, 2 nics.

[scifikg]

Originally posted by JonR@Apr 7 2004, 06:46 PM
Did you get your rebate on that one yet? I got the 60$ one and recived my rebate today. Free stuff owns. Anyhow I used it as a file server 1.3Ghz is over kill for a small network but anyhow... make it sexy!
Ya, I ended up paying $16 bucks for the syntax after shipping was included. not to shabby. My whole system is pretty much overkill for a router, but I don't have an old PC to use so this was my solution.

[JonR]

That syntax deal was so good. I got both the 1.1 and the 1.3 Grand total of 11.05 shipping.

[oner001]

Would putting in multiple nics (that are gigabit speed) allow me to transfer up to gigabit from PC to PC if I made my own router/firewall? I am quite positive yes but want to make sure...(LOL I hope that my reply doesn't sound too noobish)

[JonR]

Yes, it would. But why not just buy a gigabit router? That's what I did.

[scifikg]

Sure, it is possible to transfer at gigabit speeds betwen 2 PCs. All you need are 2 Gigabit NICs in your router and gigabit NICs in the PC sthat are transfering data. I'll probably update my router by getting a gigabit switch and gigabit NIC once the switches become cheaper in maybe a year or so.

[oner001]

I was thinking of buying a switch but for the price I can get so much more by getting the parts for an old PC (In my situation) and I'll probably end up using it as a file server not broadcasted for my main PC backups etc.

[scifikg]

I did some rewiring so that everything will fit nicely in a 21"x9" footprint. The left side of the picture will be the back of the case. The right side will be the front. I still haven't found any decorative brackets to join the walls. Right now I'm planning on using L shapped alluminum bars to join edges. I'm also thinking about adding a hard drive rack so that I can alternatively use this machine as a four hard drive file server. I think all I need is a 4P2T switch going to the harddrive power and another connector added to one of the IDE cables.

http://www.scifikg.com/albums/album15/3_G.thumb.jpg (http://www.scifikg.com/gallery/album15/3_G)

Next, I'm going to finalize the box dimensions, figure out a way to make straight cuts in the lexan with just a jigsaw, and maybe even start cutting the box.

[scifikg]

Check out my ghetto cutting table. I took piece of aluminum L bar left over from a previous mod and bolted it to my table. It made for a good vice and straight edge.

http://www.scifikg.com/albums/album15/4_G.thumb.jpg (http://www.scifikg.com/gallery/album15/4_G)

I decided to just go ahead and make a large box 11”x24”x6”. Here is a quick mock-up of the box. I was thinking of using L bar like I used for my vice to create the corner brackets.

http://www.scifikg.com/albums/album15/5_G.thumb.jpg (http://www.scifikg.com/gallery/album15/5_G)

http://www.scifikg.com/albums/album15/6_G.thumb.jpg (http://www.scifikg.com/gallery/album15/6_G)

[jolt_75]

this might sound crazy but maybe you could try to get it down to 19" so that if in the future you decide to rack mount it.

oh yeah where did you find the kickin price on the mobo

[scifikg]

Originally posted by jolt_75@Apr 9 2004, 10:34 PM
this might sound crazy but maybe you could try to get it down to 19" so that if in the future you decide to rack mount it.

oh yeah where did you find the kickin price on the mobo
I estimate that I will need about 22" if I want to add the hard drive rack so a rack mount is too small. It would have been nice option for a future network rack :( . All well.

I got the mobo at tigerdirect.com, but it was way back in February. link to the deal (http://yoshi.us/forums/index.php?showtopic=5123&hl=tiger+direct)

[scifikg]

I was thinking of making silk flames (http://www.employees.org/~joestone/Halloween/Html/silkflame.htm) for the fans.

[scifikg]

I made a practice flame painting run on a left over piece of lexan. I was originally going to do a frosting, but I saw these stained glass spray paint bottles and thought that I'd give them a try. I think that I'll put a couple white cold cathodes in the case. I was also thinking of putting wire mesh directly behind the flames. I want to do this for all four sides so it is completely enclosed in a "firewall" ;) .

http://www.scifikg.com/albums/album15/7_G.thumb.jpg (http://www.scifikg.com/gallery/album15/7_G)

http://www.scifikg.com/albums/album15/8_G.thumb.jpg (http://www.scifikg.com/gallery/album15/8_G)

Click on the pic for a bigger pic. Then click on that pic for an even bigger pic.

What do you guys think?

[JonR]

I like it. I really love the silk flames idea. Then it would totally be a fire wall & art.

I gotta say, cheap / free hardware is prolly the best thing ever. Some guy in my buliding was going to throw out a dual P-3 700Mhz with SCSI raid in a server tower case yesterday. I snatched that right up and threw in on the pile of "Things to get to" (which I may add, is getting a bit large... I wonder if I can get a intern)

[TheDistur]

B) Nice flames... *loves fire*

[pvr02]

Where did you get the parts for $78 including shipping?
And what parts.

[scifikg]

I got the parts all over the place. I listed them in the first post. I just waited for good deals to pop up which involved a bunch of rebates. I frequent slickdeals (http://www.slickdeals.net) and fatwallet (http://www.fatwallet.com) to find them. The power supply is the only thing I paid full price, but now that I have more room in the box. I think that I'll put in a bigger power supply since this router/firewall will double as a file server.

[scifikg]

Got a chance to do some modding this weekend. First, I painted all four sides.

http://www.scifikg.com/albums/album15/9_G.thumb.jpg (http://www.scifikg.com/gallery/album15/9_G)

Then I cut the two 8' aluminum L bars with my dremel. Each side is 3/4" wide. This took a while. After that I drilled the holes for the bolts and assembled the box.

http://www.scifikg.com/albums/album15/10_G.thumb.jpg (http://www.scifikg.com/gallery/album15/10_G) http://www.scifikg.com/albums/album15/11_G.thumb.jpg (http://www.scifikg.com/gallery/album15/11_G) http://www.scifikg.com/albums/album15/12_G.thumb.jpg (http://www.scifikg.com/gallery/album15/12_G) http://www.scifikg.com/albums/album15/13_G.thumb.jpg (http://www.scifikg.com/gallery/album15/13_G)

[JonR]

It's starting to look wicked. Have you decided on the silk flame effects?

[scifikg]

Originally posted by JonR@Apr 27 2004, 02:31 PM
It's starting to look wicked. Have you decided on the silk flame effects?
I'm still considering using them, but I have to figure out how the air flow is going to go. Maybe if I put 2 out take fans with silk flames at the top of the case with vent holes in the back. Or, maybe just one giant silk fan at the center of the case. I don't want to go to overboard on the flames though. I already have my "firewall". I'm not sure at this point. :unsure: After I get all the hardware in the box and see how it looks, I'll make a decision on the airflow and additional flames

[JonR]

I like the idea of a couple of 80mm fane, low RPM, on the top with intake on the sides. Wouldn't be too loud if you ran them at 5v.

[scifikg]

I made a little bit more progress over the week bolting all the components to the bottom of the case. I had a little problem with the NIC on the motherboard for some reason. I couldn't get internet access, but I could talk to the router. After a little lesson in memory addresses and IRQ, I managed to figure it out. :) Ahh.. the pleasures of modding. You never know what goodies will pop up.

http://www.scifikg.com/albums/album15/14_G.thumb.jpg (http://www.scifikg.com/gallery/album15/14_G) http://www.scifikg.com/albums/album15/15_G.thumb.jpg (http://www.scifikg.com/gallery/album15/15_G)

[Marty1]

very cool. I want to do one now. Where did you get the specs for it?

[scifikg]

Originally posted by Marty1@May 1 2004, 03:10 AM
very cool. I want to do one now. Where did you get the specs for it?
smoothwall docs (http://www.smoothwall.org/docs/) should have all the spec requirements. Although just about any old system will do. Most seem to perfer either a Intel Pentium / AMD K6 / Cyrix M2 / other IA32 or i586 (http://community.smoothwall.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2433)

[SLAY3R]

Looking good :D

[scifikg]

Jonr, I hate to say it, but I don't think that I'll be doing the silk screen fans. I just don't think that I can make it look right coming out of my case. I think it would look better coming out of a tower case. Maybe someone will try it. ;) I think that I'll just put 2 80mm fans on the top panel on the right(out) and 2 80mm fans on the left(in). All 4 fans will run on 7V. I think switches and leds will also go through the top panel.

I cut out the holes in the back and added the mesh. I also switched to larger bolts and threaded the holes in the lexan. This does away with the nuts on the inside of the case and makes panel asssembly easier.

http://www.scifikg.com/albums/album15/16_G_001.thumb.jpg (http://www.scifikg.com/gallery/album15/16_G_001) http://www.scifikg.com/albums/album15/17_G.thumb.jpg (http://www.scifikg.com/gallery/album15/17_G)

I'm going to do some wire management next.

[TomBevis]

Maybe you could use some of those incandescent bulbs with the flame-shaped elements that flicker. Might make too much heat, though. :unsure:

[WVJammer]

I'm going to do some wire management next.
What on earth makes you think
that you need to do that? :P

It is looking good scifikg.

[JonR]

Originally posted by scifikg@May 12 2004, 02:03 AM
Jonr, I hate to say it, but I don't think that I'll be doing the silk screen fans. I just don't think that I can make it look right coming out of my case.

I'm going to do some wire management next.
It's ok man. I totally see what you're saying. With a larger tower PC you'd have more room to "sink" the fans and hide them along with the bottom of the silk. In you case, it's lack of depth (literally) could really make that a problem. No sweat.

Wire management you say? :D You know what'd look cook? Is rounding those IDE cables with black and red colors.


Oh, also I love the "nekkid" router (or switch) it looks cool!

Also, am I to assume you'll be adding a red or orange CCFL or LEDs? Maybe a series of red LEDs that blink in a "sparkle" type of fashion as to give a fire like feeling?

Nice work!

[scifikg]

Originally posted by JonR@May 12 2004, 02:21 PM
Wire management you say? :D You know what'd look cook? Is rounding those IDE cables with black and red colors.

Also, am I to assume you'll be adding a red or orange CCFL or LEDs? Maybe a series of red LEDs that blink in a "sparkle" type of fashion as to give a fire like feeling?
I decided to splurge on this mod. I just ordered a bunch of stuff from xoxide

2 silver rounded ide cables link (http://www.xoxide.com/18siduderoid.html)
4 aluminum fans with red leds link (http://www.xoxide.com/xoalledfanr.html)
1 pack sleeving link (http://www.xoxide.com/sleevingkit.html)
4 flaming fans grills link (http://www.xoxide.com/lacut80figr.html)
2 white 12" cold cathodes link (http://www.xoxide.com/whcocakitdre.html)

I figured white light was the way to go since the flame colors will shine through the paint. I like that "sparkle" idea, but it's kind of at the limit of my electronics knowledge. Anyone got some idea how to build a circuit to do this with maybe a chain of white leds?

[JonR]

Ohhh.... all those are going to be wicked additions to this mod. I really like the fan grils.

:D

[oner001]

Just a heads up those white CCD's are VERY BRIGHT! I put them into my case and it was like a White Dwarf Star was in there, I had to remove them because it over powered the UV CCD's I had for the Antec UV reactive round Cobra Cables.

[WVJammer]

4 aluminum fans with red leds
I LOVE those.
It is really going to look
great, when you get done.

[scifikg]

I was thinking of putting a strobe light like this (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=42613&item=2478343709&rd=1) in the case and hooking it up to a motion sensor. Might be a fun little trick. Maybe I could modify one of those exterior home motion detection flood lights that you can get at lowes.

[oner001]

You might want to go to an Autozone or similar as there are lots of goodies that you can get to work with PC's from there (12v) that strobe, glow etc.

[scifikg]

thanks. I'll check em out.

[scifikg]

I have done some wire management (not pictured), started working on a motion detection system, and I started arranging the top panel. The knob between the fans will control fan speed for both intake and outtake. The center left panel will have 3 switches. Power, HD power , and CCFL power switch. It will also display network activity for all 4 ports via leds. The right center panel will have have motion sensor and movement activity led.

http://www.scifikg.com/albums/album15/18_G.thumb.jpg (http://www.scifikg.com/gallery/album15/18_G)

[TheDistur]

That is gonna kick major 4$$ when it's done...

That panel looks nice :) . Keep up the good work.

[linlin]

Very nice. I hate my smoothie now :)

[DaFish10]

Lookin good keep it up.

[scifikg]

Put together the top panel like I said before, but decided to put the strobe light on the outside of the case. Next I'll have to do some wiring which is going to be some tedious work.

http://www.scifikg.com/albums/album15/19_G.thumb.jpg (http://www.scifikg.com/gallery/album15/19_G) http://www.scifikg.com/albums/album15/20_G.thumb.jpg (http://www.scifikg.com/gallery/album15/20_G)

[linlin]

Awesome, very awesome :)

[WVJammer]

Looks great scifikg.
When you gonna finish
this thing?
:P

[scifikg]

Originally posted by WVJammer@Jun 25 2004, 08:37 AM
Looks great scifikg.
When you gonna finish
this thing?
:P
ya, progress has been slow lately. I haven't had a free weekend for a couple of months now. Plus, we have been having some beautiful weather up here so I'm finding it hard to spend my time inside. I'd like to finish this up in the next couple of weeks or so.

[scifikg]

I'm having an electrical problem. I want to use one rheostat to control two fans (http://www.xoxide.com/xoalledfanr.html). I'm using a 5 Watt 500ohm rheostat from Jameco. link (http://www.jameco.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ProductDisplay?prmenbr=91&prrfnbr=3782&cgrfnbr=682&ctgys=503;518;682;). The rheostat works fine if I just connect one fan, but if I wire two fans to it and turn the knob only slightly to increase resistance both fans will turn off. I'm just testing the fan and rheostat setup with a Sparkle 250W flex power supply. Anyone have some thoughts on this? :(

[scifikg]

Nevermind. I figured it out. :)

http://www.scifikg.com/albums/album15/21_G_001.thumb.jpg (http://www.scifikg.com/gallery/album15/21_G_001)

[DaFish10]

this is an awsome prodject. You inspired me to start my own. Mine won't be half as flashy though just a acrilic case. I already have the supplies.

[SLAY3R]

scifikg you rock B)

[dworld]

gets lock pick gets ready to go steal something from someone lol :ph34r:

[scifikg]

I spent most of yesterday working on the wiring and sleeving. I got all of that done except the network led indicators.

http://www.scifikg.com/albums/album15/22_G.thumb.jpg (http://www.scifikg.com/gallery/album15/22_G)

I also had a major problems with the motion detection board. After the sensor stopped detecting motion, the strobe would stay on for 1 min. The strobe is very bright, and this got kind of annoying after 20 or so seconds. I was trying to figure out a way to shorten the time that the strobe remains active when I broke it. :( I'm not sure how, but it was actually a blessing in disguise. :) See this circuit board was powered by 2 AA batteries, and I wasn't to keen on having to replace those every once in a while. I ended up putting together another motion detection system that was completely powered from the PC power supplies AC input. It's kind of cool too because even if the power supply is switched off, the motion detection system will still be active as long as the power cord is still plugged in to the wall. The circuit board will turn the strobe off 3 seconds after motion is not detected. In addition, I turned the sensitivity down so that it only detects motion if you reach for any of the switches or knobs or anywhere within about a foot of the sensor. :ph34r:

http://www.scifikg.com/albums/album15/23_G.thumb.jpg (http://www.scifikg.com/gallery/album15/23_G)

Last week I forgot to post some work I did on the switch. I desoldered the green network indicator leds and replaced them with a jury rigged header thingy. I also replaced the blue power led with an orange led that was more suited to the case color scheme.

http://www.scifikg.com/albums/album15/24_G.thumb.jpg (http://www.scifikg.com/gallery/album15/24_G)


Hopefully, I can get this thing completed this week.

[DaFish10]

this is an awsome prodject. Remember the saying though "a modder is never finished"

[Slayer2k3]

.....guy, that is a sweet project.

i started a little firewall project about a month ago, and uhm.......well, due to budget restrictions, this is all i have....after a month :D

http://www.nelp.net/slayer/linux.jpg

just random stuffs i had laying around, best thing out of it is the vid card, a GF4 mx440 :P

[scifikg]

looks like you have all the necessary components for a smoothwall. All you need now is a case. :)

[Xtremist]

Originally posted by Slayer2k3@Jul 6 2004, 11:28 PM
best thing out of it is the vid card, a GF4 mx440 :P
hey man, all i have for a vid card is a gf4 mx440 and thats for my gaming rid. :P

if i only had some money to get a nicer card... :(

[scifikg]

I finished wiring up the leds and added a small plate with the warning sticker. Then I did a quick test run to make sure everything was working. Smoothwall started up just like clockwork. I could sware my internet connection is faster than my netgear router, but I'm probably bias. Anyway, I powered smoothwall down flipped the hard drive power switch and the other harddrive booted no problems. I installed SUSE 9.1 Linux on it. I know almost nothing about Linux. Just some basic unix commands, and some stuff messing around with my xbox. I figure that I'll have to use SAMBA to do the file sharing, but I'm clueless as to how to do this. Do you guys know of any linux OS that is used specifically to be a file server? I 'd perfer to use linux since it is less likely to have viruses and such, but I guess that I could use windows as a last resort.

Also, do you think that I could use this as a game server at a LAN party? I'd guess no, but it couldn't hurt to ask. Specs are 1.3Ghz via CPU with 256mb pc2700.

[Spanky]

As far as I am concerned one distro is as good as another its all in how you set it up. Be prepared to do a lot of reading. I think there is even a bumper sticker Linux Users..Read.
It will take you a little bit to get Samba configured right, its a pain but it can be done. If you have any questions let me know I'll help if I can.

[Aqrhine]

Originally posted by DaFish10@Jul 6 2004, 05:09 PM
this is an awsome prodject. Remember the saying though "a modder is never finished"
actually I believe it goes.

An artist never actually finishes his work, He merely abandons it.

Which is a quote from Paul Valery.

[scifikg]

linux firewall network and linux file server ready to go :D

I spent most of my free time this week playing around with different distros such as SUSE, slackware, and Mandrake trying to find the best one to suit my needs. Spanky was definitely right about the reading. I ended up going with ClarkConnect Home 2.2 (http://www.distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=clarkconnect) I liked it for multiple reasons

1. It's designed to be a gateway and server which is exactly what I needed for my three 160gb Samsung drives.
2. It is very small version of red hat so it boots very fast.
3. Like smoothwall. I can monitor and control it from my web browser which also has a SSH inside the browser so I have complete access to the machine via command lines.
4. The home version is free.

Here are some pics of the web interface for smoothwall and clarkconnect. Both very simple and efficient interfaces. They are very similar to what you would see with a linksys or other commercial router accept with many many more features.

http://www.scifikg.com/albums/album15/25_G.thumb.jpg (http://www.scifikg.com/gallery/album15/25_G?full=1) http://www.scifikg.com/albums/album15/26_G.thumb.jpg (http://www.scifikg.com/gallery/album15/26_G?full=1)

[Spanky]

I forgot to tell you before, there is a web interface called S.W.A.T. for Samba that makes configuring that a lot easier webmin is another for doing a slew of other tasks via a browser. Warning: Linux is like fertilizer for PC's. I had one machine for many years, 2 years after starting Linux I am up somewhere around 15 - 16 working machines. Linux works so well on older machines and can do so much more than Windows right out of the box you hate to throw out or gut an older machine. :D If the wife didn't insist on 1 windows machine I probably would not run it at all. If you want to mess around with a distro for daily use you might look at Debian. It has a new installer that is way better than the old way and the apt-get feature is awsome. Mandrake has something similar called urpmi that works quite well also. Have fun!

[4b5eN+EE]

lol my card sucks

gf4 440mx-SE 64 mb ram

stop making fun of me :(

[scifikg]

All Done. :D

http://www.scifikg.com/albums/album15/smoothwall_final_pic_1.thumb.jpg (http://www.scifikg.com/gallery/album15/smoothwall_final_pic_1) http://www.scifikg.com/albums/album15/smoothwall_final_pic_2.thumb.jpg (http://www.scifikg.com/gallery/album15/smoothwall_final_pic_2) http://www.scifikg.com/albums/album15/smoothwall_final_pic_3.thumb.jpg (http://www.scifikg.com/gallery/album15/smoothwall_final_pic_3)

[JasondaGreat5]

Looks awesome!! :D

Really Good job!!

[JonR]

Very slick looking. Nice.

[ety]

I used to have a worse video card that the 440 I had a Geforce 256 32mb but I broke a few days ago so now I have a 9600XT AIW.

[Lockblade]

AWESOME! Looks great. Did you bild the Motion Detector circuit? Anyway, great firewall. I would have had a camera plugged into the comp so instead of a motion detector and strobe, you can have a video recording of whoever was messing with it. So you can prove it isn't your fault that the network is down! :ph34r:

[scifikg]

Originally posted by Lockblade@Jul 15 2004, 08:10 PM
AWESOME! Looks great. Did you bild the Motion Detector circuit? Anyway, great firewall. I would have had a camera plugged into the comp so instead of a motion detector and strobe, you can have a video recording of whoever was messing with it. So you can prove it isn't your fault that the network is down! :ph34r:
I didn't build the motion detector circuit. I canabalized it from a home security motion detector that I bought at lowes.

I think most web cams have motion detection and record pictures. Hopefully you or someone else will use this idea. I would like to see it done.

Also, Thanks to everyone who replied to this thread. Your advice and support are greatly appreciated. :)