floppyfw was a Linux distribution running BusyBox to provide a firewall/gateway/router on a single bootable floppy disk, but was later available in CD format.^[1]

Reviews concluded that it was a very simple and reliable gateway/firewall that could be established on small to medium-sized networks at low cost and with ease.^[1] One independent study concluded that it was " best possible security provided by a floppy-based firewall" for the repurposing of old, redundant hardware into Linux-based firewalls or routers.^[2]

Requirements

• Intel 80386SX or better
• two network interface cards
• 1.44MB floppy drive
• 12MByte of RAM

Features

Floppyfw's features include:^[3]

• Access lists
• IP-masquerading (network address translation)
• Connection tracked packet filtering
• Quite advanced routing
• Traffic shaping
• PPPoE
• Very simple packaging system. Is used for editors, PPP, VPN, traffic shaping and whatever comes up
• Logging through klogd/syslogd, both local and remote
• Serial support for console over serial port
• DHCP server and DNS cache for internal networks