Another network-card?

VoxPelli · Post by **VoxPelli** » 15 Mar 2007, 12:15

You product seems really incredible and is definitely something I will consider buying. Something that I came to think of when reading about it was how excellent it would be to have two network cards in it.

Two network cards would remove the need of a router if you only have one other computer. Then you just connect it between the internet and your computer. That would give it the ability to have people connect to it ports without having to configure a router.

It would also enable it to work as a firewall and preventing any attacks to come through to you - something that a usual router often does in a way - but this could do it more cleverly thanks to linux.

Maybe it would also be possible to use it as some kind of a router if one needs to. I don't know if it's connection to internet could be shared over a switch or something but that would be great.

The second network card could be optional and perhaps a wireless option could be made that made it a "hotspot" or something - I'm not really in to wireless networks yet but something like a wireless router or something.

I imagine that another network card wouldn't be very expensive and as it would expand the functionality much I think you should consider it...

rrohde · Post by **rrohde** » 21 May 2007, 04:18

That is EXACTLY what I am waiting for - and, frankly - the only reason why I haven't gotten a Bubba yet!

I am, too, wanting to replace my current Linux server acting as a router. And all that Bubba offers fits the bill - minus the "missing" NIC.

What a shame, really..

I do hope that a second NIC will be added shortly so I finally have a reason to get me a Bubba!

mattias · Post by **mattias** » 22 May 2007, 14:48

What about using an USB NIC? That would probably require some kernel module compiling at the moment, but should probably work OK (correct me if you know better, I'm just speculating).

My $0.02 for the feature request list go to suggesting that excito should supply a set of kernel modules making lives easier for people wanting to stick funny stuff into the USB port without having to do the cross compiling thing...

rrohde · Post by **rrohde** » 23 May 2007, 05:08

Thought about using an USB nic for about a second... but no, too much hassle.

Bubba devs... please add another NIC with your next update to the product! You will gain at least one new customer!!!

Post by **johannes** » 23 May 2007, 05:38

Thanks for your thoughts, and yes, we are considering it for the future, we have noticed that many users miss it. For the current Bubba however, routing and firewalling isn't really an option. Even using the USB alternative isn't recommended since the USB port is only Full Speed (max 12 Mbit/s). Insufficient for many users.

But again, thanks for your thoughts!

Clive · Post by **Clive** » 23 May 2007, 06:12

Agreed, this would be useful. My current setup consists of my ADSL modem + Wireless LAN router + Bubba. To merge these into one product would be great, although as Johanne says the current processor would not be able to cope with the extra workload.

A standalone router is cheap enough these days. I actually picked up my Belkin Wireless-G router for only 150SEK (I still think 'Computer City' messed up with their pricetags, not that I'm complaining

)

One other suggestion for a future Bubba improvement (and I know this is against Excito's philosophy) would be to include a small fan, just to remove excess heat from Bubba. Where my Bubba is currently sitting there is not much airflow and Bubba gets hot quickly. I have actually mounted an old CPU fan against one of the Bubba airholes and this reduces the HD temperature by 15C, it makes it a little bit more noisy though, only draws an additional 150ma though.

rrohde · Post by **rrohde** » 08 Aug 2007, 15:10

3 months later.... any news on a Bubba with 2 NICs?

Post by **johannes** » 09 Aug 2007, 02:10

Not really, else than that we have a follow-up under development. No release dates or final specs are set though. You'll hear from us when it's out, I promise.

Ubi · Post by **Ubi** » 09 Aug 2007, 02:42

There are very few things that cannot be achieved using a single NIC and a hub. One example is adding extra IP addresses to the NIC.

rrohde · Post by **rrohde** » 09 Aug 2007, 02:51

Alright, Ubi - how about my desire to have a physical seperate private LAN on the internal NIC and the Internet on the external NIC?

Post by **johannes** » 09 Aug 2007, 03:48

But yes, it will of course have two network connections.

Ubi · Post by **Ubi** » 10 Aug 2007, 05:18

Yes Rrohde, if that is your explicit desire then indeed there is no other solution.
However, security-wise this will not help you further. At most this is an electrical shielding improvement (which it isn't). Any decent router can separate two networks onto a single NIC without any security compromise.

Clive · Post by **Clive** » 10 Aug 2007, 09:52

....and personally I would prefer to use a dedicated router for this job rather than steal precious processing power away from Bubba. I also prefer to have my Bubba behind the inbuilt firewall in the router then leave it open and exposed to the internet.

Ubi · Post by **Ubi** » 10 Aug 2007, 18:04

Yeah me too, but bubba will be a much more finegrained firewall than is available as dedicated hardware (for under $500 at least). Loading up Freesco will give you a highly tweakable switch for little money

rrohde · Post by **rrohde** » 13 Aug 2007, 03:54

But you guys mustn't forget that everyone has their own ideas of doing things and I would like to combine my router/firewalling/server into ONE solution, as I have it now - but "now" situation involves a PC that's on 24/7 with a 300W power supply and noisy fans and hard drives.

I want to consolidate all that into one quiet device with a much smaller footprint and less power consumption.

For that, Bubba seems nice enough (granted they ever put in the 2nd NIC)...