Just  a few days ago the latest revision of SmoothWall Express, a hardware firewall suitable for home or small business use, was released. Known as simply Smoothie, by those that use it, the price is free, for a firewall that does so much more than a typical small box one gets from an ISP or the local computer retailer.

The initial hardware requirements for most of its functionality are small, allowing many people to simply use an older PC that might be otherwise languishing in a basement or garage.

Some of the new features include:

* A much improved user interface
* Additional “purple” network interface
* Additional support for newer hardware (including 64bit processors)
* Improved VPN subsystem
* Advanced level reporting with dynamic “real-time” traffic graphs and per-      IP  address traffic stats
* Improved bandwidth management so important traffic can be prioritized
* Improved IDS/easier updates
* Time based controls
* Email antivirus via POP3 proxy support
* Outbound traffic blocking
* Inline Instant Messenger (MSN, ICQ, Yahoo!, AOL) logging proxy                        server support

As usual, a beta has some known issues, but they are clearly defined. Also, since this project has been in beta for quite some time, following an extensive alpha cycle, it is not likely to have many flaws other than those known at release.

I have not used this version personally, however I had used 2.0 alphas, discontinuing their use only after absolutely needing better support for wireless [802.11 b/g] connections. This was one of the design parameters for this release, so I fully expect to transition to it soon. After the initial shakedown ‘cruise’, I’ll report back on any difficulties I run into. Those who wish to wait, for a non-beta release might find themselves waiting for quite some time, as things progress slowly with this development team, to be sure all the ‘unknown features’ are catalogued and or removed! If wireless is not needed, but a superior firewall, at a superior price is, 2.0 sp1 is available now.

Tags: smoothwall, firewall, linux, free software, internet, protection