I found this article interesting and useful as I have not wanted to spend a couple hundred on good external firewall router that supported external logging and have been playing around with VMs as part of test your security. This would qualify as medium to advanced networking especially as IPCop is Linux is not a plug and play program. It includes Snort and Proxy capability and to us these they must be set-up through Linux.
But if you like playing with stuff it might be good learning
Setup an IPCop Virtual Machine Firewall to Protect your Windows Host
by joshuasiokon Feb 15, 2008
Summary:
The objective of this project is to use IpCop (Free Linux Distribution) in a Virtual Machine to protect a Windows host system on any network. IpCop is a very powerful Linux based Firewall with advanced functions like: SVPN, NAT, Intrusion Detection (Snort), Web Based administration, and Routing. The concept is that all traffic on the host OS will have to travel through the IpCop VM, thus protecting the Host(TCP/IP is completely disabled on the Host External/Internet Adapater an didrectly linked to the internet adapter connector on IP Cop VM(AKA Red Adapter)) The host Windows system will not have any IP connectivity on its physical NIC and will be unable to communicate on the network without the IPCop VM running. The Host and the VM will communicate using the Microsoft Loopback Adaptor (installed on the host) and linked to on the IPCop Host FIltered Adapter (AKA Red Adapter in IPcop VM) . You will also be able to configure other MsVM MAchines to easily use the IpCop VM as their gateway to the network/internet as well. This wiit configue setting these up a little diferent
Put tyou cans the are many possible ways to set this up
[url=http://www.ipcop.org/1.4.0/en/install/html/decide-configuration.html#network-interfaces] http://www.ipcop.org/1.4.0/en/install/html/decide-configuration.html#network-interfaces[/url]
Hope you like it if your geek enough to try
OD
PS I got it working with red(host) and blue(VM) network but it took a little playing. TO me this makes VMs a practical and marketable project. I can build a VM network I can drop on any powerful enough system change license codes for the windows product and have a licensed mixed OS network up in minutes not hours(my theory not yet 100% tested and there are other key board problems with WVM and Spanish key board but I think I can get past those.