New machine

Well it took a lot more effort then I thought but I finally have everything up and running on the new machine. I have even changed the architecture of my home network as well. The problem for the delay was in how I was connecting to the net. In the past I was using a usb modem which, while not a quality modem, did the job. After mirroring the old terra, I thought it should be as simple as bringing up the new box and away we go, ofcourse nothing ever is that simple :) The key problem was simply regardless of what I did I couldn't get the new machine to talk to the usb modem. At first I assumed it was just my kernel config so I spent some time rebuilding kernel after kernel, changing configs and then kernel versions around. Further research showed that the problem was the driver that powered the usb modem under linux, eciadsl, did not support non uhci usb interfaces and my new machine ofcourse didn't have any of those. After trying more kernels (I was told this problem "possibly" went away under the latest 2.6.10pre kernels, it didn't) I got fed up with the whole setup and decided that I would get some kind of dedicated device to do the internet connection. Now normally I shy away from this because I want to terminate my net connection ON a linux machine, as I have more confidence in a linux machines security and stability then I do some black box, additionally terminating it on something else means that I lose an IP, something that is problematic for me as I am short of real IPs in the first place. After some more research I realised that I could setup a bridging mode, where basically I have a adsl to ethernet converter (pure bridge) that connects to my linux box that acts as a gateway. The win with this type of setup is that I maintain my single access point (and consequently a single point of security enforcement and monitoring) but don't lose any IPs. It sounded great so after borrowing a cisco router from work I asked one of the hardcore network guys to help me out with a configuration..... 6 hours later I got a "its theorectically possible but I don't think I can get it working" reply. Hmmm. In the end it is up and running without the bridging mode so I have lost one IP, and that will do until I move to my new place and get a chance to set it all up correctly. Ofcourse what it did mean was that I had to change the IP of my main server (due to conflicts with my router) and so everyone was unable to reach the network for a longer period of time then I would have liked. Still its all up and happy now ... at least until I move house sometime in the next month.