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I've been using ClarkConnect for over 2 years now and have been trying out a few other gateway/router/firewall distros lately so I thought I'd post info on them.
Here is what I have come across so far (not in any particular order).
Router Projects:
LEAF: "A secure, feature-rich, customizable embedded Linux network appliance for use in a variety of network topologies. Although it can be used in other ways; it's primarily used as a Internet gateway, router, firewall, and wireless access point."
SmoothWall: "SmoothWall Express is an open source firewall distribution based on the GNU/Linux operating system. Linux is the ideal choice for security systems; it is well proven, secure, highly configurable and freely available as open source code. SmoothWall includes a hardened subset of the GNU/Linux operating system, so there is no separate OS to install. Designed for ease of use, SmoothWall is configured via a web-based GUI, and requires absolutely no knowledge of Linux to install or use."
Freesco:"FREESCO (stands for FREE ciSCO) is a free replacement for commercial routers supporting up to 10 ethernet/arcnet/token_ring/arlan network cards and up to 10 modems.
Like most players in this field, it runs off one floppy
FREESCO runs in as little as 8 Mb RAM."
ClarkConnect: "ClarkConnect transforms standard PC hardware into a dedicated broadband gateway and easy-to-use server. The award-winning Linux-based solution includes firewall and security tools, along with file, print, web, e-mail, proxy, antivirus, antispam, content filtering and VPN servers.
m0n0wall: "m0n0wall is a project aimed at creating a complete, embedded firewall software package that, when used together with an embedded PC, provides all the important features of commercial firewall boxes (including ease of use) at a fraction of the price (free software). m0n0wall is based on a bare-bones version of FreeBSD, along with a web server, PHP and a few other utilities. The entire system configuration is stored in one single XML text file to keep things transparent. m0n0wall is probably the first UNIX system that has its boot-time configuration done with PHP, rather than the usual shell scripts, and that has the entire system configuration stored in XML format."
IPCop: "IPCop Firewall is a Linux firewall distribution geared towards home and SOHO (Small Office/Home Office) users. The IPCop interface is very user-friendly and task-based. IPCop offers the critical functionality of an expensive network appliance using stock, or even obsolete, hardware and OpenSource Software."
SME Server: "SME Server is an open-source Linux server distribution designed to be:
- Simple to setup and use: Simplicity has been a design goal from day one. SME Server is easy to administer through your web browser, compatible with most common hardware, and can be installed and configured in as little as an hour.
- Secure and stable to operate: When used as a gateway, SME Server acts to protect your network from internet security threats, and, based on Linux, is reliable and dependable in operation."
redWall Firewall: "redWall is a bootable CD-ROM Firewall. It's goal is to provide a feature rich firewall solution, with the main goal, to provide a webinterface for all the logfiles generated!"
Euronode: Euronode is a set of Debian GNU / Linux distributions, which transforms in a few minutes a simple computer into a high performance server or firewall installed and configured. Built on the basis of Debian GNU / Linux Woody Release 2, Euronode includes most of the essential tools, without any superfluous software. Euronode scripts automate the process of installation and configuration : auto-detection of devices, partitioning and automatic installation, auto-configuration of the system and services."
Sentry Firewall CD: "Sentry Firewall CD-ROM is a Linux-based bootable CDROM suitable for use as an inexpensive and easy to maintain firewall, server, or IDS(Intrusion Detection System) Node. The system is designed to be immediately configurable for a variety of different operating environments via a configuration file located on a floppy disk, a local hard drive, and/or a network via HTTP(S), FTP, SFTP, or SCP."
CensorNet: "CensorNet is the world's favourite open source Internet Filtering & Management solution for Enterprise, Education and Personal use. CensorNet addresses the growing concern of users accessing unsuitable and offensive material on the Internet in a powerful, reliable and cost effective way. Consistently CensorNet is chosen as the best alternative to commercial filtering solutions"
Devil-Linux: "Devil-Linux is a distribution which boots and runs completely from CDROM. The configuration can be saved to a floppy diskette or a USB pen drive. Devil Linux was originally intended to be a dedicated firewall/router but now Devil-Linux can also be used as a server for many applications. Attaching an optional hard drive is easy, and many network services are included in the distribution."
Here is what I have come across so far (not in any particular order).
Router Projects:
LEAF: "A secure, feature-rich, customizable embedded Linux network appliance for use in a variety of network topologies. Although it can be used in other ways; it's primarily used as a Internet gateway, router, firewall, and wireless access point."
SmoothWall: "SmoothWall Express is an open source firewall distribution based on the GNU/Linux operating system. Linux is the ideal choice for security systems; it is well proven, secure, highly configurable and freely available as open source code. SmoothWall includes a hardened subset of the GNU/Linux operating system, so there is no separate OS to install. Designed for ease of use, SmoothWall is configured via a web-based GUI, and requires absolutely no knowledge of Linux to install or use."
Freesco:"FREESCO (stands for FREE ciSCO) is a free replacement for commercial routers supporting up to 10 ethernet/arcnet/token_ring/arlan network cards and up to 10 modems.
Like most players in this field, it runs off one floppy
FREESCO runs in as little as 8 Mb RAM."
ClarkConnect: "ClarkConnect transforms standard PC hardware into a dedicated broadband gateway and easy-to-use server. The award-winning Linux-based solution includes firewall and security tools, along with file, print, web, e-mail, proxy, antivirus, antispam, content filtering and VPN servers.
m0n0wall: "m0n0wall is a project aimed at creating a complete, embedded firewall software package that, when used together with an embedded PC, provides all the important features of commercial firewall boxes (including ease of use) at a fraction of the price (free software). m0n0wall is based on a bare-bones version of FreeBSD, along with a web server, PHP and a few other utilities. The entire system configuration is stored in one single XML text file to keep things transparent. m0n0wall is probably the first UNIX system that has its boot-time configuration done with PHP, rather than the usual shell scripts, and that has the entire system configuration stored in XML format."
IPCop: "IPCop Firewall is a Linux firewall distribution geared towards home and SOHO (Small Office/Home Office) users. The IPCop interface is very user-friendly and task-based. IPCop offers the critical functionality of an expensive network appliance using stock, or even obsolete, hardware and OpenSource Software."
SME Server: "SME Server is an open-source Linux server distribution designed to be:
- Simple to setup and use: Simplicity has been a design goal from day one. SME Server is easy to administer through your web browser, compatible with most common hardware, and can be installed and configured in as little as an hour.
- Secure and stable to operate: When used as a gateway, SME Server acts to protect your network from internet security threats, and, based on Linux, is reliable and dependable in operation."
redWall Firewall: "redWall is a bootable CD-ROM Firewall. It's goal is to provide a feature rich firewall solution, with the main goal, to provide a webinterface for all the logfiles generated!"
Euronode: Euronode is a set of Debian GNU / Linux distributions, which transforms in a few minutes a simple computer into a high performance server or firewall installed and configured. Built on the basis of Debian GNU / Linux Woody Release 2, Euronode includes most of the essential tools, without any superfluous software. Euronode scripts automate the process of installation and configuration : auto-detection of devices, partitioning and automatic installation, auto-configuration of the system and services."
Sentry Firewall CD: "Sentry Firewall CD-ROM is a Linux-based bootable CDROM suitable for use as an inexpensive and easy to maintain firewall, server, or IDS(Intrusion Detection System) Node. The system is designed to be immediately configurable for a variety of different operating environments via a configuration file located on a floppy disk, a local hard drive, and/or a network via HTTP(S), FTP, SFTP, or SCP."
CensorNet: "CensorNet is the world's favourite open source Internet Filtering & Management solution for Enterprise, Education and Personal use. CensorNet addresses the growing concern of users accessing unsuitable and offensive material on the Internet in a powerful, reliable and cost effective way. Consistently CensorNet is chosen as the best alternative to commercial filtering solutions"
Devil-Linux: "Devil-Linux is a distribution which boots and runs completely from CDROM. The configuration can be saved to a floppy diskette or a USB pen drive. Devil Linux was originally intended to be a dedicated firewall/router but now Devil-Linux can also be used as a server for many applications. Attaching an optional hard drive is easy, and many network services are included in the distribution."
