[PLUG] Firewall choices for a small software development business

["K.S. Bhaskar" <bhaskar@bhaskars.com>]

A couple of weeks hence, our new software startup YottaDB LLC (yottadb.com) will move into new space in Malvern, and I need to set up Internet access. Both Comcast and Verizon are available on the building, and I haven't chosen one.

This e-mail is to solicit opinions about a firewall. I don't know what sort of firewall they provide by default with business Internet service (perhaps none?) but I suspect I will need to set up our own firewall as well. We are starting out with three developers, and will scale up over a year to perhaps a half dozen and at most a dozen. I don't anticipate hosting our web site locally, but I will need inbound access, for which I am currently thinking of ssh with port knocking, rather than VPN.

It seems to me there are three choices:

• Buy a router (discussed on the list recently), or perhaps
  ​flash ​an existing router from OpenWRT 12.09 to a newer release.
• Get a dedicated PC and:
  ​​
• run a specialized distro like IPFire or ClearOS; or
• run a general distro like Debian Stable and a firewall like Shorewall.

Comments, suggestions, and recommendations welcome. Thanks in advance.

Regards

-- Bhaskar

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