This covers a range of topics - so there may be a better place to put it but this one will do for now.
I have a D-link DSL-500 ASDL Router with a 512k connection - connected through a switch to a server and about 15 workstations.
The problem is that I need to restrict some users from accessing certain URLs (eg. Hotmail, personal interest sites, etc.) and allow others (including myself ;) to have access. I've tried blocking IP addresses (through the current D-link ADSL router) but often a URL has many IPs so this has proven fruitless - the interface for this component is also not very user friendly.
So the question is: should I get some software (if so then what software) or should I get a piece of Hardware, a router with URL blocking (and which one)? [Please lets not get into the discussion about if a Hardware firewall is actually software in a nice little box or not Im looking at practicalities].
I need the solution to be:
- Cheep (ie. no ongoing costs)
- Easy to administer
- Be able to block certain users and not others (not very important but useful)
- Able to block many URLs (I guess hundreds if not thousdands)
- Perhaps some other things I can't think of right now (perhaps some recommendations/suggestions)
My thoughts are to get another router which would connect between the ADSL router and the switch. I'm just not sure which one (so perhaps I should be asking in the hardware area - I just figured other network administrators probably would have come up against similar problems).
The other thing is deciding on which URLs to block. I'm thinking I could use the IE history (index.dat [isn't it?]) and just pick and choose as need arises. This solution Im thinking of will be reactive which would be fine - but perhaps this is an other question for later...
|
