Red Hat

I just recently purchased a second computer so that I could make it into a firewall. I put Linux Red Hat 9.0 on it. I was told that the best way to attach my computers is to have two ethernet cards in my Linux computer. My road runner cable is attached to one of the ethernet cards and my personal computer is attached the other ethernet card. Is this the best hardware configuration? And now that the hardware configuration is done. How do I configure the software for optima protection?? I am new at the game of hardware firewall, I was strictly a norton's man. But through all of the reading I have been doing on this site, I now believe that a hardware firewall is the way to go.
If anyone knows of a site that could take a newbie by the hand and walk him through in configuring the Red Hat, I would be greatly appreciative..
Manys thanks to all for their inputs...

 

First off, I would recommend another distro FOR A FIREWALL, check out the man pages for iptables, and check out these links:

http://www.auscert.org.au/render.html?it=1935
http://www.auscert.org.au/render.html?it=1974
http://etherlabs.net/m.werneburg/pro/sysadmin/security/hardening.php
http://dir.securepoint.com/Hardening/Linux/
http://www.linuxsecurity.com/
http://www.snort.org/
http://www.chkrootkit.org/
http://www.linuxsecurity.com/advisories/redhat.html
http://www.security-forums.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2027
http://www.elsewhere.org/jargon/html/entry/hacker.html
http://www.elsewhere.org/jargon/html/entry/script-kiddies.html

Generally just set up IP forwarding, stop unneeded daemons (*laughs*, if you are running sendmail kill it and remove it from init scripts).

I am actually at the moment setting up my own OBSD 3.3. firewall, so funny coincidence

 

Many Thanks, Vlad902
It looks like I have a lot of homework to do

 

Nah man, that's just the links i got off another one of my posts in a UNIX forum I visit, that's just the beginning

 

Some notes:

* Update often, it's important
* Check that linux security site, it will tell you when you need a new update
*Only run services that you actually NEED, and if you don't need it extrenally make it only internal
* Tripwire sucks
* Snort/chkrootkit rocks
* Nmap rocks
* SUID is a no no

 

Vlad,
Thanks for the input. I already starting reading some of the sites and let me tell you; it was like reading a poem by keats. Very Boring. But what you have told me already in those fews lines are what I got out of the couple of sites that I went to already. Many thanks

 

Yeah, when you get it installed, just turn everything off, even the connection, just to be on the safe side But yeah, it may be a bit tedious, but it's all good stuff, Hell, I'm not suggesting wading through 500 Bugtraq e-mails per day