Linux Server Gateway
A system running Linux makes a very good choice for your gateway to the Internet. There are a number of strong packages available in Linux to support it as a gateway.
First for a Gateway, of course, is a firewall. There are many choices for Linux firewalls. The will all do a good job, and are highly configurable. In fact, the configuration can be larger, and more complex, than the firewall on most of the Internet routers. NAT (Network Address Translation) is also supported, of course, for routing functions,
Another function that a Linux gateway can fill, is a VPN endpoint. Several VPN connections can be configured as VPNs to all of your remote locations. Since this system is the gateway from your local LAN, and it handles the routing for the VPN links, as well as the Internet link, the individual PCs on your LAN do not need to have any configuration setup to connect over these VPNs.
The basic setup, is a system running Linux, and two network cards. One network is connected to your LAN, and the other is connected to the Internet. All traffic from your LAN, is routed through this system. The Linux system takes care of NAT and forwarding the packets, filtering based on the firewall, etc. As none of the computers on your LAN are directly visible from the Internet (unless the gateway is configured to allow this), security is improved. In other words, your PCs are not visible to hackers running address and port scanning software, enhancing your system more secure.
A Linux gateway can also fill other roles, such as your mail server, web server, etc. The lower cost of ownership of Linux serves to further enhance to value of Linux to your organization. If you have virtual server environments you can use on a Windows Server you may want to install a Linux Distribution and use it rather than Exchange and IIS.
CCS Retail has extensive experience setting up and maintaining Linux Servers. Contact our support department for help.