[ale] Network "What do I need?" Question

[John Mills]

ALErs -

I am looking for a simple approach, preferably for an off-the-shelf product to help with a system integration problem.

Background:
We have about 10 items comprising a LAN setup. Several are Win2K boxes, mass memory with automatic backup/capture cycles, time service, and a couple of others. They are tied throug a generic 10/100 switch and ulitimatel will live at fixed IP addresses behind a router to a T1 line, roughly speaking.

We have preassigned IP address blocks and we wish to configure, integrate, test, and ship the equipment using its ultimate IP addresses. (The Win2K items could naturally be loaded with */HOSTS files, but this is not convenient for some of the units.

The [Cisco] router will manage firewalling, etc. in the final installation.

Problem:
Our development environment is not on a T1 line, but on 10/100 Enternet behind corporate firewalls, DHCP servers, etc. Our assigned IP addresses are not compatible with this setup (being the usual '168.192.xxx.yyy', though we can get known IPs in the local net. At least one of the hosts must work to our corporate net, and also to the other units.

I supposed we could drop an Ethernet interface card into the Cisco router in place of the T1, and let it translate from corporate to assigned address spaces, but I have yet to find the proper card.

I expect I could set up a Linux host to translate between one set of addresses and the other - I don't know if 'masquerading', 'bridging, or 'forwarding' is the more appropriate name - but I would be much better off if I could find a cheap, off-the-shelf unit which would remap my equipment's IP addresses between the LAN and the corporate net. Time is a priority here, so anything purchased has a big advantage over anything we cobble together.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

Regards,
 John Mills
--
To unsubscribe: mail majordomo at ale.org with "unsubscribe ale" in message body.