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I’ve step the whole morning to setup firewall and proxy server with my colleague.

Well, due to budget constrain and experience, a linux box can easily fulfill our needs.

Remember my requested free original Ubuntu Linux? We configure Ubuntu as our free firewall and proxy server!!

The latest version 8.10 doesn’t seem too much different with my old version 7.04.

Setup Free Firewall

My colleague downloaded the latest Ubuntu and install on a normal computer. The Ubuntu was updated with all necessary patches and firewall tool — Firestarter. No hassle on firestarter installation, just select from Synoptic packager and wait until finish.

Firestarter is easier than iptables. Its GUI let you setup policy with few clicks away. Just open up standard port that need to use by your applications. Add authorized IP into Outbound policy. (more…)

Until today, still got friends ask me what is the differences between Linux and Windows? This is an interesting question. Some of you may already know the answer. But could you list them out?

I’m not Linux expert. I won’t give Linux course here. Just share some good points that I found on Internet. Might be more than 8 points here. I think I just list out the important ones.

• Open source vs Close Source – The most significant difference is Linux is open source and Windows don’t. This mean you know what the program run, while Windows not allow that even if it store in “malicious” software to spy you.

• GPL License vs Ms Licensing – In fact, Linux belongs to the GNU Public License that allow user to access or alter the kernel as long using back the name “Linux”.Also, you can download a ginsle copy and install as many machines as you like. For Windows, no such thing as “Free”. You pay for server license, client license, client access license, terminal server client license and many more. (more…)

Today, one of my SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES9) encounter network error. The problem is the server and client can’t ping each other.

After checked the Cat5 cable using network tester, it shows the cable is working fine. Since the server already run for more than a year without my attention, I should ignore on the driver and OS part. But I still double check on its driver and protocol. I ping to itself and read though the event log file. After all, I found no error on software side. Hence, I suspect it was due to hardware problem, especially network card (NIC) error.

Configure the Network Card (NIC)

To make it work with minimum configuration, I decide to replace it with the same model network card. After boot up the system, it auto detect the NIC without any error. Now, I should put back its original TCPIP settings, including its IP address, subnet mask, gateway and DNS server name.

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