To all:
I think I finally found exactly the hardware I need to network my 'puters at an affordable price. From what I have read, it should act as a very effective firewall also, since anyone scanning the internet would see the IP address of the UGate device and not be able to read the Sub-IP addresses of the connected computers.
The basic way that the UGate works (and how most other internet sharing devices and/or software work) is fairly simple. For example, let's say the IP Address your ISP
assigns you is 123.456.789.1. To the rest of the world, this is your number and if information is going to find you, it has to have that address "written" on it. The UGate has this address and acts as a broker for any information packet destined for a computer behind it. Each computer attached to the UGate is assigned a unique number within your private network. The UGate assigns Computer A an address of 192.168.0.2, while Computer B is assigned 192.168.0.3 and so on. When Computer A requests some information on the Internet, it sends a packet to the UGate marked with its (local) assigned address of 192.168.0.2. The UGate "makes a note" of the packet requested by Computer A and sends it out to the Internet. Before it leaves, however, the address on
the packet is changed to the public Internet address: 123.456.789.1. When the requested information comes back, the UGate "remembers" which computer originally requested it (Computer A), re-stamps it as 192.168.0.2, and sends it back through the private network to the proper computer.
The Internet itself never "sees" Computer A's address at all, only the public address that the UGate exposes. Computer B is treated the same way and can be sending and
receiving data at the same time as Computer A, as it has its own private address. Once again, the Internet never really knows about Computer B, only the address that is assigned by your ISP is recognized. Using this scheme effectively eliminates the need for multiple public Internet addresses to serve computers in a private network.
Firewall Protection
Something that UMAX seems not to talk up much is the UGate-3000?s excellent internal
firewall. I had a network security expert that I work with take a shot at breaking into
my little network at home attached to the UGate. After running numerous
industry-standard firewall testers against it, as well as other methods, he was
impressed with the UGate?s ability to keep unwanted traffic out. He also noted that
certain ports that a NT network can be vulnerable through are not accessible through
the UGate.
hardwarecentral.com
Any thoughts?
Have fun,
Phil |
