This is a first for me I've not heard of this firewall, i was on the Https everywhere site eff.org then the next thing i knew was looking at this firewall. Has anyone tried it or like me have you heard of it.. Overview Our Free Home Use Firewall is a fully equipped software version of the Sophos UTM firewall, available at no cost for home users – no strings attached. It features full Network, Web, Mail and Web Application Security with VPN functionality and protects up to 50 IP addresses. The Sophos UTM Free Home Use firewall contains its own operating system and will overwrite all data on the computer during the installation process. Therefore, a separate, dedicated computer is needed, which will change into a fully functional security appliance. Just right for the spare PC you have sitting in the corner! http://www.sophos.com/en-us/products/free-tools/sophos-utm-home-edition.aspx
I thought about using this when it was Astaro Security Gateway about 3 or 4 years ago, I checked out the online version but decided against it as I needed another NIC for my old PC. Also the idea of running two large desktops was off putting due to a lack of space and because they would use too much power. I've always liked the idea of running a dedicated hardware firewall like Sophos UTM or IPfire and Untangle etc. What did you intend to install it on? I've thought about buying old firewall hardware from ebay but I don't know whether they would be good enough to run the software efficiently and I don't want to waste my time and money. I intend to revisit the idea when I can afford a smaller PC like the NUC.
Look at this: http://www.aliexpress.com/store/group/Intel-i3-Mini-PC-Dual-Nics/800900_258196628.html http://www.aliexpress.com/store/group/XBMC-with-Dual-Intel-Nics/800900_254433192.html http://www.aliexpress.com/store/group/Dual-Nics-PC-with-Fan/800900_254498304.html http://www.aliexpress.com/store/group/Fanless-Dual-RJ45-PC/800900_254456205.html http://www.aliexpress.com/store/group/X3900-with-2-Nics-COM/800900_255786017.html I will purchase one soon, to run IPFire and ArkOS both virtualized with HyperV
I'm wondering if a laptop can be used to effectively run a UTM firewall? I have an old one with an SSD so power consumption should be pretty low. It only has one NIC though. I'm not sure how I would insert it between the cable modem and the wifi router. Perhaps a USB to Ethernet adapter like this one? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...e=usb_ethernet_adapter-_-17-659-005-_-Product
@Victek: yes, a laptop works. I'm using a single core Pentium 4 laptop with a 40 GB spinning hard disk, running IPFire with a ClamAV proxy and Snort. It performs great. For the second ethernet interface I use an ancient PCMCIA ethernet card. Any NIC supported by the OS kernel should work fine.
I heard Sophos UTM don't support or even recognize any USB or PCMCIA device. And they clearly state 2 NIC is needed in requirements section. I don't know thing has changed, so if anyone who has Sophos/Astaro forum account can confirm this, I'll be very appreciated.