>I have a RedHat 7.2 installation with two cards that I am hooking to my DSL >connection.
>
>we exposed our mail server and it got hyjacked :-(
>
>Thanks VERY much in advance.
>
>Terry


Terry,

My advice is to save yourself a LOT of trouble and put a simple, $80 router between your DSL modem and your network Hub. I have installed 8 RH boxes in exactly the way you described above and found that:
1. There is an ongoing maintenance issue as new versions of the servers (Apache, Sendmail, etc) are released to address security holes. If you don't upgrade, you risk being hacked since your RH box is completely exposed to the Inet.
2. The setup on the router is MUCH simpler and more flexible (maybe I should say "EASILY flexible") than configuring your RH box.
3. You can take down the RH box and work on it without depriving your network users their access to the Inet.
4. Assuming that a Linux box can be used like a Swiss Army knife, while "nifty", is as goofy as assuming that Windoz will -someday- be stable and reliable. In other words, for each task use the best solution and don't force an oval peg in a round hole. It may fit, but you'll expend unecessary effort.

The Linksys #BEFSR11 Router is rock-solid, very configurable, and inexpensive. It's been the best $80 I've spent on setups that are exactly like you are describing.

I've converted 7 of my 8 installations to use this approach and it's a HUGE improvement. (And yes, I had two servers hacked because I didn't keep the distro's and/or server software on the RH boxes updated.)

Hope this helps.

Mike