network firewall

[xteraco]

ok, here's whats goin on.. i got 2 computers.. one of them i'm keeping to run my firewall and antivir.. i herd that you could do this.. i had it hooked up, but i dont think it was working .. anyway here goes..

i want to have 1 computer that has antivir and firewall installed on it.. and other 2 computers networked to that 1... we'll call it the security pc... ok, now i want hte security pc to scan the other 2 for viruses and make sure that the other 2 arent being intruded(firewall) ... the other 2 i dont want to have the firewall or antivir installed on.. the reason is that firewall uses resources, as well as antivir, so if i have a seprate pc to take care of all that, the other 2 will be protected, and the other 2 will not be wasting there power and resources to scan themselves, would this work.. how would you hook it up?? heres how i hooked it up, but i dont think it was working

i got a router, i hooked my cable modem to uplink, and all the pc's to the other ports... i dont think it worked tho..

[barok]

your router most likely has a firewall built in. you know that?

the site: http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-10165_7-5465494.html

Sure, a $50 Linksys box will protect your home network. But how about something a bit burlier? If your old system has a Pentium processor, 64MB of RAM, a hard drive, and a CD-ROM drive, it's painless to build a pretty serious network firewall, called a SmoothWall.

What you'll need
You'll need at least two Ethernet cards: one to connect to your Internet source, and a second to connect to your home network.

How many computers are you protecting?
You might want a hub if you want to connect more than one PC to the firewall. You could also use this as extra protection between the Internet and a wireless access point such as the Apple AirPort Express.

What you'll do
1. Download the SmoothWall Express ISO from SmoothWall.org.
2. Burn it to a CD-R as image data. Don't burn as a file.
3. Make sure your old PC will boot from the CD. You may have to do this in the BIOS.
4. Reboot from the new SmoothWall CD you've created.
5. Follow the onscreen directions to install the firewall software.

Just plug the Internet and your new PC or network into your old PC; now your home network has some serious protection.