[ILUG] smoothwall

[Cathal Garvey]

olearypj at rte.ie wrote:
 > Hi,
 >     I've just finished installing Smoothwall on an old P11 pc & was 
wondering if
 > there was a way of using it as an ntp server also for the clients, or 
would it
 > be a better idea to have each client access an external ntp server as 
it boots
 > up. any help or suggestions would be appreciated. BTW, i'm thinking 
of signing
 > up for the Esat/BT broadband next week maybe, if I can get Eircom to 
fix the
 > line so it passes whatever test it has failed.

In theory, its more appropriate not to host services on your firewall. 
In practice, it should be possible to host an NTP server, but you do run 
the risk of another service being exploitable leaving your firewall, and 
network open (if such an exploit exists, or comes to light in the future).

If you have another server, or nearly-always-on-pc, on the network it 
might be better to host the NTP on that machine. If the NTP is for 
external access, then you might want to look at Smoothwall's DMZ or 
Orange zone, or simply portfoward to an internal PC.

Good luck in getting the line fixed.. eircom have a guaranteed minimum 
data transfer rate of 0K.. so start rustling crisp bags the next time 
you ring, as they'll only guarantee good (!!) voice quality. Another 
alternative is to "Wha? Sorry? I can't hear you .. hello? Can you hear 
me" for a while.

.cg