Skip site navigation (1)Skip section navigation (2)
Date:      Fri, 2 Mar 2001 17:18:12 +0300
From:      Odhiambo Washington <wash@iconnect.co.ke>
To:        FBSD-Q <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org>
Cc:        Naitore Lukongodo <naito@iconnect.co.ke>
Subject:   Multiport Ethernet Cards
Message-ID:  <20010302171812.A629@poeza.iconnect.co.ke>

next in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
Here is an easy one for the networking gurus ;-).

I am thinking of a situation where I need to wire a building so that it is 'Internet Ready'.
One option is to deploy a hardware (Cisco) router and a hardware bandwidth manager.
OTOH, an option I am thinking of involves the  use of FreeBSD as the 'router'/bandwidth manager
but here are where my MAJOR concerns come in:

I will obtain a DSL connection to an ISP and connect the building from some central place within.
Then I will give one 'access point' to every office on all the floors. At this point, a particular
office will cascade their own hub/switch. They will also end up having a private class C address for
themselves.

Here is the digrammatic representation:

192.168.50.0/24

 --------
| Client1| \ 
 --------   \
  HUB 1      \
              \ 
               \   ++++
                \ | S  |       ---
 --------        \| W  |      | R |     DSL Modem
| Client2|--------| I  |      | O |       ++++
 --------        /| T  |----->| U |      | D  |
  HUB 2         / | C  |      | T |----->| S  | ---------->>> Internet
192.168.60.0/24/  | H  |      | E |      | L  |
              /   |    |      | R |      |    |
             /     ++++       |   |       ++++
 ---------  /                  ---
| Client 3|                  FreeBSD 4.x
 --------
 HUB 3
192.168.70.0/24


I am looking at a scenario where I have more than 20 independent clients. They are ALL running Windows, of course.

PROBLEM 1: Is FreeBSD capable of allowing me to use 5 multiport Ethernet cards (say each is 4-port),
           so that I end up with 20 ethernet interfaces? Will all be usable?

PROBLEM 1: I do not want NetBIOS broadcasts resulting in every client being able to 'see' all his 
           neighboring networks (you know that Network Neighborhood thing in Windows)??. Can I filter 
           packets so that each network receives only packets destined to their net?


PROBLEM 2: I would like to enure that there is adequate security for each client network. I also want to control 
           bandwidth for every client. Client 1 needs on 16K bandwidth while Client 2 needs 64K. Can I do this with 
           FreeBSD (ipfw/dummynet)???

Does anyone have experience with this?
Is this a cost-effective solution administrative-wise? (I mean admin overheads)


I can still do some clarifications if they're called for.


Thanking you in advance.


-Wash

--
Odhiambo Washington  Inter-Connect Ltd.,
wash@iconnect.co.ke  5th Flr Furaha Plaza
Tel: 254 11 222604   Nkrumah Rd.,
Fax: 254 11 222636   PO Box 83613 MOMBASA, KE.

Relax. Only dread one day at a time. 

To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org
with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message




Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?20010302171812.A629>