Fedora Bible 2010 Edition: Featuring Fedora Linux 12

Chapter 15. Connecting to the Internet

In This Chapter

• Connecting your LAN to the Internet

• Setting up Linux as a router

• Configuring a virtual private network (VPN)

• Setting up Linux as a proxy server

• Setting up proxy clients

This chapter demonstrates how to connect Fedora to a TCP/IP-based network, such as the Internet, a private LAN, or a company WAN. The differences in how you connect have more to do with the network medium you use (that is, telephone lines, LAN router, and so on) than they do with whether you are connecting to the public Internet or a company's private network.

The instructions in this chapter build on the procedures in Chapter 14 for creating your own Local Area Network (LAN) by describing how to connect your LAN to the Internet. For those who want to connect a LAN to the Internet, the chapter describes how to use Linux as a router and set it up to do IP Masquerading (to protect your private LAN addresses). It also tells you how to configure Linux as a proxy server, including how to configure client applications such as Firefox.

Connecting Your LAN to the Internet

The users on your LAN are happy that they can share files and printers with one another. With your users already connected on a LAN, the next logical step is to set up a connection to the Internet that everyone can share. The advantages of doing this are obvious:

• Central maintenance — If information related to your Internet connection changes (such as your cable provider or IP addresses), you can administer those ...