Would you like to have a Linux-based router capable of doing tasks such as stateful firewall inspection, virtual private networking, and traffic shaping, in addition to packet routing? Tired of having to do administration from the command line but want to be able to administer your box from a Windows-based client PC? MikroTik's RouterOS may what you need. You can boot RouterOS via diskette, CD, or over the network via PXE or Etherboot-enabled network interface card. You can find a full list of RouterOS technical specifications at the homepage.

I installed the 13MB ISO CD image RouterOS v2.9.23 on a old Compaq Proliant 400 (450MHz, 128MB RAM, 20GB hard disk). The software's minimum configuration is a 100MHz Pentium, 64MB RAM, and 64MB storage. When I booted the PC, I found a list of available packages for RouterOS, including the packages to use DHCP and PPTP servers, Web proxy, and much more. You can select individual packages, all available packages, or the minimum required packages. To see the full range of what RouterOS was capable of, I selected all. After a last warning about the data on the disk being erased, the software is installed.

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