Hardware FirewallNAT Boxes

Hardware Firewall/NAT Boxes

Now that you've read this far, I have a suggestion: Consider purchasing a hardware firewall/router/NAT box (as produced by Linksys, Dlink, and Netgear, among others). In the past year they've become quite inexpensive, and they're very easy to set up. They are not, however, as flexible as a software router such as can be built with ipchains. For the average small local area network (LAN) and home user , however, they are more than sufficient. Three of the four authors use such devices, for yet another reason: Because hardware firewalls have no moving parts , their power consumption is quite low. I figure that my hardware router will pay for itself in about six months, in lower electric bills. A disadvantage of these hardware devices is that they may have security holes in them, and one may find oneself suddenly vulnerable. Depending on how long it takes the vendor to come up with a patch that solves the problem, one's exposure may be longer than one would like.