With Open source virtualization software like VMware Player and Virtualbox, it is easy to install and run Virtual machines (VMs) in a home desktop computer. Endian Firewall provides a service called VPN (Virtual Private Network); it offers a secure communication between two different networks by using internet connection. In this chapter, we will install an Endian Firewall Community OS in one of the virtual machines (VM) and network it with the other VM for creating a firewall/router/proxy/VPN.
TopIntroduction
Unified Threat Management (UTM) refers to a comprehensive security product which integrates a range of security features into a single appliance. One of the UTM is Endian Firewall Community (Guarino, 2010) offering Stateful Firewall. The Endian Firewall Community is a turn-key Linux based security software product designed for home that can transform any unused hardware appliance into a full-featured Unified Threat Management (UTM) solution. Endian Community is aimed to make security simple and help protect home networks by using the power of Open Source (Endian Spa, 2017).
The Endian Firewall can act as a Gateway, Router and Firewall. Endian Firewall can also act as a proxy for Web, email, FTP, SIP and DNS. Up to four different networks (depending on the number of LAN cards installed in the host machine) are usually managed.
The Endian Firewall networks are managed through the web interface (Wikipedia, 2017). Following Network are differentiated by their color coding:
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Red Network: Connection to the WAN/Internet.
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Green Network: Secure intranet/LAN e.g. file server.
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Orange Network: Part Safe Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). This includes devices that operate their own server and must be accessible over the Internet, such as Web or FTP servers.
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Blue Network: Secure wireless part, here on wireless devices can be connected. Thus, they are separated from the green network, which increases its security.
System requirements for installing Endian Firewall Community Edition (Endian Spa, 2017):
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CPU: Intel x86 compatible (minimum 500MHz, recommended 1GHz)
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RAM: Minimum 256 MB (recommended 512MB)
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Disk: SCSI, SATA, SAS or IDE disk required (minimum 4GB)
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CD-ROM: IDE, SCSI, USB or CDROM drive required for installation
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Network Cards: At least two Ethernet cards are required, one for the WAN/Internet and one for the LAN.
Download the ISO image of “Endian Firewall Community” from following link:
http://www.endian.com/community/download/
Download “Oracle VM VirtualBox” from following link:
https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads
Network Diagram
Figure 1 shows a wireless router connected to the internet and next connected to the host computer which will host the virtual machines (VMs). Oracle VirtualBox is installed on the host computer and two virtual machines (VMs) are installed on VirtualBox. The first VM is Endian Firewall Community OS and second VM is Windows 7 client. The EFW will need two network adapters (LAN cards), one NIC will connect with Windows 7 client, creating an internal private network, in which Endian Firewall is the gateway for the Windows client, and the other NIC will connect to the home router and the internet. Wireless router has given an IP address to the Endian Firewall, virtual machine (VM) on its red-zone network interface (NIC).