Where can I get a large project-box online?

[NewBlackDak]

It needs to be big enough to hold a micro-atx mobo, micro-PSU, a floppy drive, and a hub/switch that I'll of course take out of it's case.

I'm building a new router box.

[grover]

Lowes.com might have a project box big enough for that. Or a 1RU case might *just* be big enough to cram that all into, but would be real tight. Might work out better than trying to jerry rig up a server box?

Also, no HDD?

[NewBlackDak]

No HDDS allowed! I actually run coyote on them which boots from a floppy and runs everything from a ramdisk. Since it does boot from a floppy all you have to do is make sure you have a good copy of it, and set the bios to boot after a power outage. Mine aoriginal one was up for 237 days before we lost power.

[agw_01]

Hey NBD, I was just reading up on Coyote Linux (that is it right?).

Looks pretty sweet, do you think it would be better to have a box running that rather than a Win2K server with seperate firewall/sharing software?

Do you have any restrictions on the size of the case? If not, why not just get a cheap Desktop or Mini/Midi tower case and slap it all in there?

[NewBlackDak]

On Coyote
I think it's ALOT better!!

You don't have to run a hard drive.
It's more secure.
It's more stable than windows.
With windows if you have a major problem and have to re-install, you might be down for hours. With Coyote, you jsut make a couple copies of the floppy once you get everything configured.
You need way less hardware.
My current one is running on a 486DX-4 with 64MB ram, and I have up to 20 machines at one time gaming on the internet. I've seen a 386 with 20MB RAM serve up internet for 5 machine, and not notice any slow-sown.


On the case:
No real size restrictions, I just like for it to be small and hidden. Truth is I don't have a spare case, and the local stores are very proud of their fine products( if you know what I mean). Every one I've seen online is way more than I'm willing to pay for. Everyone is willing to sell their case for $20 and charge $25 to ship it. A cheap desktop case with no PSU just isn't worth $45 in my book.

[Todd a]

Lindows is kind of like that. It can run off a CD in a system with no hard drive. It can't get viruses, you never need to re-install it, and if something goes wrong you just reboot. There was a company that sold these systems with no hard drive (or floppy I think) and they recommend a flash drive for storing files. They even have Keosk versions were the CDROM drive is internal and can not be openned without removing the case.

[NewBlackDak]

If you really want a CDROM version go with the Debian Live-CD, Knoppix(based on deb), or Overclockix(based on knoppix with support for more modern hardware). All Coyote has are the things it absolutely needs to be a router.

[agw_01]

So NBD, does Coyote have a firewall already configured? I've put together an old box, with a Pentium 200, 64mb RAM and a floppy drive. It just has an S3 Virge graphics card and a Realtek 8139 network card.

I think I might use this box as my net server, because as you said...

It's more secure.
It's more stable than windows.

Something that appeals to me that most, is that you don't need to have a HDD, which means that I won't have to worry about extra noise coming from the case, or viruses etc being stored on the hard disk.

Have you tried lookin around eBay for a case? I had a look on the UK eBay site and found a few Micro-ATX cases which looked about the right size...

[NewBlackDak]

www.coyotelinux.com/

· How secure is Coyote?

While no Internet connected machine is 100% safe, Coyote provides a moderate degree of security for the computers that it shares an Internet connection with. Coyote Linux and other distributions like it that do not run services such as web, ftp, email, etc are as secure or possibly more so than the commercially offered home firewall/gateway solutions. By using Network Address Translation (NAT) to hide the true addresses of the internal computers (LAN hosts) and preventing any sort of direct connection from an Internet host to your LAN, Coyote provides the necessary security to enable such services and Microsoft file/print sharing on your LAN. However, please note that by adding any port forwards to Coyote, you are opening your LAN to additional risks. When a port forward is established to an Internal computer, you then have to make sure that the service that is being exposed to the Internet is secure.

Hadn't considered eBay yet, but I will certainly look.

I've never had a security problem running Coyote. The also have a product called Wolverine

Wolverine Product Information
Wolverine Firewall and VPN Server

This product is a commercial grade firewall and VPN solution, designed for use by any size organization. Wolverine offers features found in many, much more expensive solutions such as the Cisco PIX, Watch Guard FireBox, and GTA's Gnat Box.

Which you can get fot $30 for personal use. I have built 7 router boxes that generally consist of as cheap of a motherboard/processor/memory we can find, a floppy drive, a quiet PSU, 2 decent NICS, and a switch. Set the BIOS to boot on all errors, and you don't have to have a keyboard, mouse, or monitor installed.

[agw_01]

Thanks for digging up that information for me, and sorry for hi-jacking your thread, but security is something that I take pretty strongly.

Well, I got my box up and running with 1 Realtek network card. Because I won't be using the box until I move house next year, I don't know what ADSL modem I will have. AFAIK, the ISP will be BT so I will have a USB modem and I will have to connect manually. I think that this may be a problem when using Coyote as I'm not sure if it has support for PCI USB cards and USB devices.

Also, when it boots from a floppy disk, it asks for login information, eg root/password...

Do I have to login in order to get the sharing/firewall to start up, or has it already started up previously?

Thanks

[NewBlackDak]

no log-in required. It just runs.

[Todd a]

As for the original queatsion. Have you thought of making one. You can use lexal, aluminum, steel, or even wood. All are pretty easy to find at local hardware stores for a resonable price and you can make exsactly the size you need. If all else fails you could try a plastic tool box or breif case and make it mobile too.

[TeeDub]

Just hide it all inside tupperware.

(Not like it should get hot enough to melt it with just an old 486 or early pentium.)

[NewBlackDak]

LMFAO!! you caught me. My first ghetto router was inside a peice of tupperware. Still running my brother's house. I'm gonna go to home depot tomorrow, and see what they have available.

[agw_01]

I saw a guy once who built a VIA C3 based system in a tupperware box.

Todd, you have given some great examples of custom cases there! The briefcase is always a good one because as you said, it can be mobile if needed, and is small enough to sit in the corner of a room.

NBD... sorry for hi-jacking your thread to talk about Coyote Been doing that a lot recently... really need to stop!