Opinions on where to locate an Airport Extreme with a XServe

I've been laying out a new network scheme for a soon to arriving Mac Server and an Airport Extreme. There are 2 ways that this can be done:
1. Cable Modem to a DMZ setup on the Xserve, and the Airport Extreme used in bridge mode. The Xserve would then run all of the NAT, DHCP, and Firewall Service. This is how our current Windows Network is set up through an ISA Server.
2. Use the Airport Extreme as the DMZ, NAT, and DHCP. The rest of the clients would then reside on a 24 port switch that is connected to the Airport Extreme. There would also be port mapping for the mail, website, maybe VPN. I'm leaning towards this at the moment.
Any opinions on which way you would go? I have the luxury also of being able to deploy this completely in a "testing" state, so I have time on my side to work out the bugs.

I ended up using option 3. Configuring a separate firewall on the most recent installation I worked on. This with a third IP widget.
The Airport Extreme is a good home firewall, but was (for servers) fairly limited in its ability to provide port forwarding. The third (firewall) widget provides the net connection, and the rest of the network (or networks, if the firewall has DMZ capabilities) and the Airport Extreme are set up behind it.
Yes, Xserve can be used for routing (eg: as a firewall), but read up on how to configure the default route for multiple NIC servers. There have been previous discussions of this here in the forum. The downside of using Xserve as a firewall is -- if you or something you install happens to open up a port -- you can end up open to the network. And if the Xserve happens to be down for some reason (maintenance, upgrades), you can lose your path out off the LAN.
Firewall options include Smoothwall and M0n0wall, and various "pro-sumer" firewall products.
The third widget also made IP connections easy; it's the gateway. But if the IP port forwarding on Airport Extreme is sufficient for your requirements, go for it.

Similar Messages

  • Where to locate an airport extreme installation CD/software?

    I have purchased an airport extreme last December and didn't get a chance to install it until now. However, I could not find my installation CD. I am wondering where I can get/download the CD or the software? Thanks.

    you don't need the CD. Go here http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/ and use Airport Utility 532. Once installed launch it and use it to check for firmware 731 also.

  • AirPort Extreme with Bluetooth 2.0+EDR Card for Apple Dual Core

    Hello everybody,
    Where can I buy the AirPort Extreme with Bluetooth 2.0+EDR card for a new Apple PowerMac G5 2.3 Dual core? What websites or locations in Los Angeles sell this card?
    What workarounds are out there?
    Thank you all for your answers.
    Apple G5 Dual Core   Mac OS X (10.4.3)   HD Cinema Screen

    The new Dual Core G5 machines do indeed come shipped in the base models without Bluetooth or Airport Extreme. There will be a solution available through the local ASP's (Apple Service Providers) and Apple Genius bars in the Apple owned Retail stores. Many of the store employees are not fully aware of the situation, however, they should be able to look up the issue in the Knowledge Base.
    There is a service part (PN 661-3692), that should likely be available for future upgrades. At present, the part is constrained, and therefore restricted to exchange only repairs. You may want to contact a service provider or Apple Retail location to inquire on availability as an upgrade part, as it is currently not planned as a DIY (do it yourself) activity and would have to be obtained and installed by one of these service providers.
    G5/2.3 ghz Dual Core   Mac OS X (10.4.3)  

  • Airport Extreme with 6 TB Drive vs. Drobo vs. NAS?

    I am looking for system design advice in preparation for a new Mac Pro set up.
    Long story short- I am a semi-professional photographer.  I shoot 1 - 2 TB a year (Nikon D800 and various other bodies).  I currently have a 24" iMac (2007) and a MacBook Pro (2008) that are WELL past their prime.  I have at least 8 TB of external drives with all of my previous years of Aperture libraries connected to my iMac which is my primary machine.
    My question-
    I am looking to have my previous Aperture libraries accessible to all of my machines and have a central storage solution. 
    I am looking opinions on placing a new Airport Extreme with a 6 TB external drive connected to it with my previous libraries (which do not change) on it and have it Time Machine backup my current photo library and system nightly.  I do not require fast access to my previous libraries or fast backups.
    I have off site backups of all my libraries and I backup my current stuff monthly offsite.
    My new MacPro set-up will likely have a 4-6 TB G Tech drive attached to it for fast access for video projects etc.
    I want all my photos accessibl, a current onsite backup… and I want it all automated- no input at all… and I don’t want a big huge mess of RAID drives and worries of multiples drives all over the place.
    What would most of you suggest?
    Drobo? NAS? … any help is appreciated.
    Thanx

    Thank you for the replies. 
    My predicament can’t be unique. I need a large chunk of connected, stable and slow storage that seldom gets used but is safe and sound… and I need a safe automatic backup of my current projects (but never am I so stressed that every nanosecond of data is replicated on the moon at the speed of light…).
    I have witnessed massive Drobo failures and oddly been thankful that I had a mess of several external drives on my desk.
    The other challenge is that my new system will be installed in a location that has no easy way of connecting to the wired network in my house…
    Should I go with an Airport Extreme to increase the wifi speed a bit in the house and an attached Drobo 5D to the new machine?

  • How to set up Airport Extreme with Charter ARRIS Modem TM902A for the first time for WIRELESS.

    How to set up Airport Extreme with Charter ARRIS Modem TM902A for the first time for WIRELESS.
    When Charter Tech goes to your site, have them connect the modem up, but do not connect the modem to your iMAC or MacBook Pro.  What you want to do is connect the Airport Extreme to the iMac or MacBook Pro first with the Ethernet Cable. You have to do this to configure via Airport Utility to set up the Base Station Name & Base Station Password.
    You will then create/configure a Wireless Network, create your Wireless Password that will be entered on each of your Devices, example, Apple Tv, your iPhone, etc., you want to allow access to your Wireless Network you are creating.
    Wireless Security will be -> WPA/WPA2 personal or just WPA2
    Enter the Wireless Password you want
    Verify the Wireless Password (enter it again)
    After it is created you will see it on the Airport Utility window with the name you created for it and to the left, will be a Dot (circle that will be yellow).
    Next you then want to unplug the power to the Airport Extreme, and then take the end of the Ethernet cable you unplugged from the iMac or Lap top MacBook Pro and connect it to the back of the Modem.
    Next unplug the power cord from the modem and wait about 5 minutes, then plug the power back into the Arris Modem and wait until all lights come back on the modem wait
    about 5 minutes, then plug the power cord back to the Airport Extreme and you will see it the light blinking yellow.  Wait about 5 to 10 minutes, during this time Restart you IMAC or MacBook Pro, and once it is back up click on the Airport Utility and you should see on the Airport Utility screen.
    For INTERNET to the left the light should be green and you should see the Airport Extreme also appear and the light to the left on the screen should also be green.  If they are, you then should be able to click on the Wireless Symbol on top of bar of the screen and click to select the Wireless Network Name you created.
    If you Do Not See the light (Icon) next to INTERNET turn Green, or if you see the Internet Light Green, but the Light (Icon) next to the Airport Extreme is yellow, unplug the power again to the modem and unplug the power again to the Airport extreme and wait about 15 minutes or up to 30 minutes. Then plug the power cord back to the modem wait till all the lights light up then, plug the power cord back into the Airport Extreme and Restart your iMAC or MacBook Pro.
    The Airport Extreme light should change from yellow to green. Open up the Airport Utility to see what the indicators are showing they should both be green.  Again select Wireless network you created under the Wireless Icon on the top right of the screen. Open Safari and see if you are able to Route to a web page or the apple site should appear.
    WHAT TO DO IF YOUR AIRPORT EXTREME WAS PREVIOUSLY SET UP FOR USE WITH ANOTHER CARRIERS ROUTER OR MODEM.
    NOTE:  If you already had your Airport Extreme connected for example, I previously had ATT Uverse and the Airport Extreme was connected to the Wireless Router Model 3801HGV, I disabled the Uverse Wireless and used the Airport Extreme for the Wireless signal in bridge mode, as the Airport extreme Signal is much stronger than the Uverse router, and I was able to obtain a Wireless signal with the Airport Extreme way much better with no signal loss which was very very frustrating with the Uverse router.
    Anyhow if you had it hooked up like this, now that you will be using it with the Charter ARRIS Modem TM902A, you will need to reset the Airport Extreme to clear out the old data it has in memory, with the previous set up otherwise it will not work. Trust me I spent 6 hours trying to make it work reading all Apple Support Community questions and answers relating to this type issue/problem others have been having trying to get their set up working. I tried all the tips, and I finally decided just to see if by chance I would be able to connect with someone with Charter Tech support who might be familiar with Apple to be able to assist me and by luck I did.  He told me why it was not working and was all due the previous configuration with the ATT Uverse router was still in memory with the Airport Extreme. Finally it was 10:30 PM when I decided to call Charter Tech Support and I had been working on this since 3:00 pm pacific. I did not call them earlier as all the post I read said they never received any good help from Charter. After calling them I finished up by 11:00 PM and was able to finally connect Apple Tv, iMac, iPhones and Macbook Pro. We love our Apple Product and Happy all is connected with the new
    Internet Provider Charter. I must say the speed is way way much better than it ever was with AT&T Uverse. 
    THIS IS WHAT YOU WILL NEED TO DO:
    First you will need to unplug the Airport Extreme, then by taking the tip of a pen or paper clip end you need to push the reset button on the back of the Airport Extreme and hold it
    down and at the same time plug the power cord back into the Airport Extreme count to 5 or 10 then release the reset button. Then once he light in front of the Airport Extreme stops blinking you need to plug the Ethernet cable from the Airport Extreme to your iMAC or Macbook Pro, and restart which ever one you have, then open the Airport Utility once it is back up.  If you see airport extreme pop up with the old network name or it shows and yellow triangle click on the Airport Extreme ICON it will not let you configure it but will ask if you want to get rid of it or remove and just do it.  Then Again restart your iMAC or MacBook Pro, open up Airport Utility again, and on the top left you should see under “Other Airport Base Stations” the MAC ID for the Airport Extreme.
    You will then create/configure a Wireless Network, create your Wireless Password that will be entered on each of your Devices, example, Apple TV, your iPhone, etc., you want to allow access to your Wireless Network you are creating.
    Wireless Security will be -> WPA/WPA2 personal or just WPA2
    Enter the Wireless Password you want
    Verify the Wireless Password (enter it again)
    After it is created you will see it on the Airport Utility window with the name you created for it and to the left, will be a Dot (circle that will be yellow).
    Next you then want to unplug the power to the Airport Extreme, and then take the end of the Ethernet cable you unplugged from the iMac or Lap top MacBook Pro and connect it to the back of the Modem.
    Next unplug the power cord from the modem and wait about 5 minutes, then plug the power back into the Arris Modem and wait until all lights come back on the modem wait
    about 5 minutes, then plug the power cord back to the Airport Extreme and you will see it the light blinking yellow.  Wait about 5 to 10 minutes, during this time Restart you IMAC or MacBook Pro, and once it is back up click on the Airport Utility and you should see on the Airport Utility screen.
    For INTERNET to the left the light should be green and you should see the Airport Extreme also appear and the light to the left on the screen should also be green.  If they are, you then should be able to click on the Wireless Symbol on top of bar of the screen and click to select the Wireless Network Name you created.
    If you Do Not See the light (Icon) next to INTERNET turn Green, or if you see the Internet Light Green, but the Light (Icon) next to the Airport Extreme is yellow, unplug the power again to the modem and unplug the power again to the Airport extreme and wait about 15 minutes or up to 30 minutes. Then plug the power cord back to the modem wait till all the lights light up then, plug the power cord back into the Airport Extreme and Restart your iMAC or MacBook Pro.
    The Airport Extreme light should change from yellow to green. Open up the Airport Utility to see what the indicators are showing they should both be green.  Again select Wireless network you created under the Wireless Icon on the top right of the screen. Open Safari and see if you are able to Route to a web page or the apple site should appear.

    I just got a Charter Modem. Model TM822. While I was moving, my Airport Extreme was still at my old place.
    I have a Linksys WRT320N I used for the initial Charter setup.
    I can get my Airport to work here, but the Internet light on the Modem flashes Yellow.
    Hasn't caused any issues so far but one thing I did notice.
    On the Linksys there were 3 DNS servers listed.
    The Airport Extreme only lists 2 and i don't see where I could add another, only change whats already there.
    I tried everything above, but light on modem still flashes yellow.
    I have the technicians cell phone. Told me "that shouldn't be" and gave the same advice listed above.
    I'll break down and call Charter one day, see if it's on their end. NSA tracking may need a reset LMAO.

  • Which to buy?  Time capsule or Airport Extreme with USB drive(s)?

    I'm getting either a TC or an Airport Extreme with an external drive.
    Archive:
    I noticed that TC can archive to an external drive. It seems this can be handy for creating off-site backups. Can I do this with a drive on Airport Extreme (with a powered hub and another drive)? Or do I need to move the drive to a Mac and copy there? Or should I use a network backup instead in either case? I guess this is my main question: Can archive work with Airport Extreme?
    Mounting:
    Is mounting the Airport Extreme for WiFi range any easier than the TC?
    Drive failure:
    Is the TC drive likely to fail over the next couple years? And the other way, if the TC breaks, is the drive something I can use elsewhere? I'm a little concerned about having all my eggs in one basket.
    Other:
    Anything I should be aware of in making this decision?

    +Are there any constraints in the orientation of TC that the AirPort Extreme does not have?+
    No, not really as long as you give either device plenty of airspace as they both tend to run warm to very warm. I thought mounting the AirPort Extreme might improve the signal strength a bit, but it made no measurable difference for me.
    +Is the TC significantly heavier?+
    The Extreme is under 2 pounds, the TC comes in a bit over 3 pounds.
    +Is mounting on a pegboard bad for the HD?+
    I think you may be asking if you can mount it vertically. That's not a problem and the Apple store even sells wall mounts for either device.
    +Yikes. I got bad info. I read the "unsupported" constraint was dropped a couple versions ago. I thought all the comments on this were referring to the older versions of AirPort Extreme.+
    Here's the Apple document. Nothing changed with Snow Leopard and I saw a specific Snow Leopard document about this...just can't find it at the moment. I'm sure other forum regulars will confirm as well if they see this post.
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2038
    +Is there a list of file servers that Time Machine is compatible with?+
    Sorry, I don't have first hand knowledge on that and my policy is to only offer advice on things that I've done myself. That question might be worth a separate post since few people will see this question buried where it is.
    Message was edited by: Bob Timmons

  • I have a Airport Extreme with a 1TB external HD connected to it.  How can I password protect certain files?

    I have a Airport Extreme with a 1TB external HD connected to it.  I have it set up so my Macbook Pro and PC's in the house can access it.  i have some files that i would like to protect(sensitive personal info.).  Is there a way that can be done where as certain folders are password protected?  Any advice is appreciated.  Thanks!

    Would a good workaround be to use disk utility to set up a password protected sparse image, of course being connected directly to the Mac, then connect the drive to the Airport Extreme?
    Then, couldn't one use that drive and protected files as normal on the airport? It would just require one extra step of using a Mac to set things up first.
    I disconnected my Airport so cannot check it out for myself.
    Hugh

  • Am replacing airport extreme with Time Machine and want to upgrade from Tiger to Snow leopard. Am told I should manually back up into T Machine before OS update but set up utility won't allow anything with OS below 10.5 and I'm 10.4.11. What to do?

    Am replacing airport extreme with Time Machine and want to upgrade from Tiger to Snow leopard. Am told I should manually back up into T Machine before OS update but set up utility won't allow anything with OS below 10.5 and I'm 10.4.11. What to do?

    I think you mean you are replacing your Airport Extreme with a Time Capsule. Time Machine is software integrated into OS X 10.5 & 10.6 used to automatically backup a system to an external HD. Time Capsule is an Airport Extreme that has a hard disk integrated into it that can be used for storage or  as a Time Machine backup drive.
    Because you are currently on Tiger 10.4.x you can backup to a external HD using SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner. Having a backup is very wise before doing any major system update. After  you have created the backup and have successfully upgraded to Snow Leopard you can still use the external HD for many things. The strategy I'd recommend is to use the new Time Capsule as your Time Machine backup and then use the external HD as backup using SuperDuper or CCC. Redundant backups is wise because backups can (and do) fail too! In addition both SD and CCC are bootable clones, this is useful in that if your internal HD crashes you can boot from a cloned drive and continue working until the internal HD is replaced.
    Below are some links to some articles from MacWorld, I would recommend reading them where you find a common theme, redundant backups. Backup Plan I, Backup Plan II & Backup Plan III.
    Roger

  • How to set up airport extreme with TPG ADSL2 ?

    How to set up airport extreme with TPG ADSL2 ?

    I just got a Charter Modem. Model TM822. While I was moving, my Airport Extreme was still at my old place.
    I have a Linksys WRT320N I used for the initial Charter setup.
    I can get my Airport to work here, but the Internet light on the Modem flashes Yellow.
    Hasn't caused any issues so far but one thing I did notice.
    On the Linksys there were 3 DNS servers listed.
    The Airport Extreme only lists 2 and i don't see where I could add another, only change whats already there.
    I tried everything above, but light on modem still flashes yellow.
    I have the technicians cell phone. Told me "that shouldn't be" and gave the same advice listed above.
    I'll break down and call Charter one day, see if it's on their end. NSA tracking may need a reset LMAO.

  • Replacing older airport extreme with time capsule

    I am thinking of replacing my airport extreme with time capsule. I had a lot of problems setting up airport extreme a few years ago - now it is very reliable. I don't want to have the same issues with time capsule. Can I simply physically replace the airport extreme with time capsule using the same settings as previously
    Advice gratefully anticipated

    Welcome to the discussion area, pancuronium!
    You will use AirPort Utility on your Mac for this operation:
    (Macintosh HD > Applications > Utilities > AirPort Utility)
    Open AirPort Utility and click Manual Setup
    Click the File menu at the upper left corner of the screen near the Apple icon
    Click Export Configuration File
    Assign a name to the file and save it to a convenient location like the desktop
    When you are ready to install the Time Capsule....
    Open AirPort Utility and click Manual Setup
    Click the File Menu
    Select Import Configuration File
    Navigate to locate the file that you exported to import all the settings into a new configuration for the Time Capsule
    Message was edited by: Bob Timmons

  • How do I add an Airport Extreme with Time Capsule to an existing non-Apple network?

    How do I add an Airport Extreme with Time Capsule to an existing non-Apple network?  I have an ISP provided wireless Router that has to remain as the base station.  I am able to join my 1/2TB Airport Extreme and Airport Express to the network, but I can't access/use Time Machine.

    One option would be to connect the Time Capsule (TC) to the ISP-provided wireless router by Ethernet. You can then configure the for a roaming network. Then, depending on what your goal is for the AirPort Express, you can either: 1) Add it to roaming network, 2) Configure the TC & the Express for an "extended" network, or 3) Configure the Express to "join" the roaming network for AirPlay.

  • I am getting a "connection timeout" message when trying to access my Airport Extreme with various laptops, Play Station 3 and Wii. My Airport Extreme is about a month old; it was working fine until about a week ago. C

    I am getting a "connection timeout" message when trying to access my Airport Extreme with various laptops, Play Station 3 and Wii. My Airport Extreme is about a month old; it was working fine until about a week ago. Suddenly, the "timeout" is not allowing me to connect to my wireless network.

    It could be that there's a new source of interference.
    Use the advice in the second message of this thread to investigate the signal and noise levels that each client sees:
    http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2347845&start=1
    By the way, you've been misled by the poor field labeling into trying to type your entire message into the subject field, instead of putting a one-line topic description there.

  • AirPort Extreme with 3T time capsule file security question

    Right now I am using a MacMini with an external HD as a file server.  I'm thinking g of using the new AirPort Extreme with 3T time capsule to do the same tho g (while also extended my wifi reach).
    With the Mac mini I have fine control over who gets to see and do what to which folders and files.  It seems that with the AirPort Extreme thee is no notion of permissions or access control -- if you can get on the wireless you can access the files.  That is extremely insecure. 
    Is my understanding correct?  Is there no way to secure files hosted on an AirPort Extreme so only certain users can access them??
    - john

    Are there any instructions for how to format and set HFS+ user permissions on the AP Extreme's HDD?
    For the formatting part, you will need to temporarily connect the drive to your Mac, and then, use the Disk Utility (a part of the OS X operating system) to partition and format the drive. You should find this utility in the \Applications\Utilities folder. For HFS+, choose "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" for the Format option.
    For assigning user permissions using accounts, you will need to use the AirPort Utility.
    Run the AirPort Utility
    Select the Extreme, and then, click on Edit.
    Select the Disks tab.
    Select the HDD in the Partitions window.
    Choose "With accounts" as the Secure Shared Disks option.
    Click on the "+" button to add user accounts.
    For each account desired, enter the Account Name, Password, and File Sharing Access type.
    Click Save.
    Click Update to write the new configuration information to the base station and wait for the station to restart.

  • How to connect to dsl airport extreme with built in modem

    Hello everybody,
    while we were tiding our cellar, i found an old airport extreme (a1034) with a built in modem, but i aint able to connect to my isp.
    I looked throug the manual, but i didnt got answers there (maybe because of my poor english) . Is there a tutorial out there which tells me
    how to connect to my isp?
    Regards Floh
    PS: again sorry for my poor english

    If you try to set up the new AirPort Extreme with AirPort Utility 5.6.1, you will receive a notice that you need a more up to date version of AirPort Utility.
    Nevertheless, AP 5.6.1 will allow you to set up the basics....wireless network name, password, etc.
    It will appear that you can change other settings that are not found in more recent versions of AirPort Utility, but if you go in and check using a newer version of AirPort Utility, you will find that the settings that you thought you had made have not "stuck".
    For example, you want to change the Radio Mode on the new Extreme and not use the Automatic setting. AP 5.6.1 will appear to let you do this. But, if you check the setting using a more recent version of AirPort Utility you will see that the setting is still set at "Automatic".
    So, the bottom line here is that unless the newer version of AirPort Utility has the specific setting that you want to change, you will not be able to make that change.
    Is there ANY chance, to set up my new "towers" with more
    options, than the current Airport Utilities do offer?
    Unfortunately, no.

  • Wifi connection AirPort Extreme with IP-camera

    I can't establish wifi connection Airport Extreme with IP-camera. At the same time cable connection is fine, but wifi not.
    Please, give me an advise.

    You need to create a wireless network on the AirPort Extreme, and then you probably will want to assign a compatible static LAN IP address to the camera so that you can port-forward from the router to the camera.

Maybe you are looking for