[plug] 4 port nic pci card

[Matt Kemner]

On Fri, 21 May 2004, quoth Chris Caston:

> I've just been playing around with this. I bet this is a totally
> insecure solution for use in a firewall (if it even works, I've haven't
> tested it fully yet) but under Linux with IP aliasing support built into
> the kernel you can specify multiple IP's to a single nic using:

You're right, you shouldn't count on it for security, but it will work
fine.

Although you can do the same thing with a single-port NIC and an external
hub/switch, so really all you save with this "4port" card is not requiring
an external hub or switch.

If you want to run seperate networks from the same NIC that you CAN rely
on for security, get a switch with 802.1Q VLAN support, and compile same
into your kernel.  That way you can split the switch into multiple
segments and address them as seperate interfaces on Linux.
You'll also have the added benefit that broadcast packets only affect
those hosts that need to receive them, they don't get blasted to all ports
on the switch.

> I look forward to someone ripping that suggestion apart :)

Did I do good? *grin*

 - Matt