securiity for small school

Hi

our school has 3 power mac labs and one Win 2k pc lab plus the offiice win 2k
we are switching to broadband internet and ethernet from appletalk and dial up
I am thinking of a d-link hardware firewall, router, and switches with a managed switch for the office.
no wi-fi at this time all hard wired
we have HP ethernet printers which can work on both the macs and pcs

currently the office is running norton av and systems work plus ad aware spybot, spywareblaster ie-spyads, host file, spywareguard, etc

I am thinking of the liinux based software firewall for the gateway.
I would also like to block in and out-- similar to hosts file or restricted zone blocks would this be part of the dns server?
I would like heuristics

the other consideration is for the intranet- keeping the kiddies away from the office

we have a windows 2000 server license but no server at this location yet
going to install it along with network
the workstations are running 2000 pro sp4 sun java, mozilla firefox (on one for test) in the pc lab we are trying one each of the free firewalls and avs available and will settle on one
it would be nice not to have this software on each system but to it at a centeral point
we will be switching the pc lab from ie explorer and microsoft VM this summer

any ideas would be appreciated
thanks

 

Do the kiddies have to use the internet? If so, you'll have to do some blocking. Best option: get a linux distribution geared for schools:
censornet. There are a few low cost options, like blacklists or content scanning (including skin tone filtering), but they'll cost a few dollars per year.

Or get another linux distro and add some filters, like squidgard, or dansguardien. Get sme server.
Of course there are AV (clamav) and AS (spamassassin) modules to plugin.

 

thanks meener

the jr highs are a problem with games- porn- and other unfiriendly from an administrators point of view (not dealing with the content) SITES
blocken the content is also needed in many cases
I bookmarked your suggestions
I havn'et been able to re-locate the linux firewall and dns server-- any leads?

Wyrmrider

 

Sorry, I don't quite get the question...
If you plan on using a linux dns server, you may take a look at the sme server links, forums and plugins. Plenty solutions.

BTW: it's also a great primary domain controller

 

You might find something that will help here

 

thanks for the tips folks keep em coming

I would like to put a computer in the communication closet with the modem, hardware firewall, router and main switch and have it do as much work (in a secure spot) as possible we have on ups
the sms looks like a good place to start
we can get a donation of any or all symantec products however that is not the overiding consideration

things this box could do (so far)
dns server
software firewall
privacy software
restricted sites type action
HOSTS file type action
porn/nasties site blocker
virus and e-mail scanner

later could host small website
how much horsepower should we budget?

so: we are looking for hardware and software Ideas for the communication closet to replace our old individual computer dial up system

thanks

ps I downloaded the pdf and will distriibute to staff thanks