hi, and what a useful answer!
this is exactly the stuff that the books i have looked at assumed i
already knew!
i have to admit though, that i'm a bit worried about needing so much
memory for my 486, i keep reading about how such machines make good
firewalls for smalltime users like me but i don't think my 486 can have
64meg!
thanks again
bascule
> 2)is the ip address of each nic the same as each machine or is that
> different? (i ask because i know that one machine could have more than
> one nic)
>
> ---
>
> It is different, but a part of the same subnet. Welcome to Networking 101.
>
> Let's assume that machine A has two nic cards, for whatever purposes.
>
> Then Machine B has one.
>
> Machine A & B are connected to a common hub. Only ONE of the interfaces on A
> is connected to the hub. The other is connected to another LAN, DSL/CABLE
> modem, etc.
>
> Now the interfaces on the same "segment" (in this case connected to the same
> hub) would need to be on the same "subnet".
>
> If you've elected to use the reserved IP's (a wise decision) of 192.168.0.1
> thru 192.168.0.254 you can set up Machine B to use 192.168.0.2 or 3, etc.
>
> Machine A can also use about any IP from 1 thru 254. 1 however is a special
> case.
>
> It is normally used for Routers or Gateways... so if A is to be a gateway...
> Nat, etc...
> 192.168.0.1 is a good choice.
>
> Two other things you need to know.
>
> 192.168.0.255 is called a "broadcast" address. The computers use this
> reserved IP to "broadcast" to other nodes on the same "subnet" or LAN.
>
> 192.168.0.0 is the NETWORK address. Addresses ending in Zero refer to a
> group or subnet.
>
> Your Netmask is 255.255.255.0 since this is a class C network. The Netmask
> is used to filter out packets. It helps distinguish their destination...
> ---
>
> 3)do i need a default gateway or to set up any routing info if i only
> have two machines connected via a hub?
>
> ---
>
> If machine A is going to be the gateway (I.E. connected to a Cable
> Modem/DSL, etc.) IT is the default gateway.
>
> In Linuxconf you ENABLE routing, but in the field where it says "Default
> Gateway" you leave it BLANK on A. On machine B you fill in A's IP number...
> Thus B uses A as it's gateway. Get it?
>
> ---
>
> 4)i know about the reserved ip addresses but does it matter which
> address in an allowed range is used? i have used 192.168.0.1 on one box
> and 192.168.0.2 on the other
>
> ---
>
> See above
>
> ---
>
> 5)what other quiestions should i have asked?!
>
> ---
>
> For starters dealing with DNS. DHCP for your OTHER Ethernet card. Security
> levels. Samba, NFS, etc. quite a long list if you are going to set up
> everything... though worth the effort.
>
> ---
>
>
> it is my intention to one day have the 486 machine be a firewall, i
> perceive that one day the uk will have reasonably priced unmetered isp
> access and i want to be ready!
>
> ---
>
> I hope your 486 has at least 64megs of RAM.
>
> While a 486 does fine as a router, it normally does so if it is not bogged
> down with things like Xwindows. You can use X to set things up though, then
> merely have the computer come up in text mode.
>
> -JMS
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
