New York; LinuxWorld — (press release excerpt) — Lightning, a manufacturer of secure Internet access gateways, today announced its contribution to the open source community: The company's Linux distribution is based on the very latest Linux kernel 2.4 and is used for advanced routing and gateway functionality. It supports IP routing, extended address translation and filtering, load sharing, transparent proxy redirection, DHCP client and server, syslog and firewalls. The Swiss company will now give the open source community access to developments and modifications made on the open source projects. The modified part of the open source project is also available at Lightning's website.

Lightning chose an open source system because compared to other systems Linux routing is very fast. The open source system offers better performance, high speed for the implementation of new developments, and it provides interoperability to other devices. Lightning-Linux is a complete GNU system, it is based on kernel 2.4 and works with Motorola 8xx processors as well as on Intel 386 platforms. Furthermore, it is based on the latest high performance Glibc 2.1.3 library which provides POSIX compliant APIs.

Lightning's approach in developing its own Linux distribution has been to enhance the available open source applications with its own developments, in order to offer very secure and reliable products. The company has developed an optimized yet completely embedded Linux distribution for routing and gateways to give its customers access to powerful routing solutions which can be adapted to new market needs extremely quickly. Another added value for customers is the functionality for a very easy configuration of the routers, developed by Lightning's engineers. While preserving the entire functionality of Linux, the Lightning distribution offers a rich set of features serving the needs of stand-alone systems.

Lightning's development team has developed and integrated an easy-to-use configuration tool enabling quick and uncomplicated use of Lightning routers throughout networks. Customers do not need technical knowledge of Linux's underlying powerful features in order to install the devices. Additional features available are extensive administration tools that enable management of Internet appliances through standard interfaces such as Web, Telnet, SNMP and a Java configurator.

The management tools and the system are based on a modular architecture, and can easily be updated or adapted to individual customer needs. Through the provision of its own Linux distribution, Lightning gives its customers access to a completely new set of services. The company can offer collaboration for joint developments on specific customized projects. Further cooperation opportunities are provided through licensing the Lightning-Linux development platform and administration system.

The open source modifications will be available for public download from the company's website.

 
This article was originally published on LinuxDevices.com and has been donated to the open source community by QuinStreet Inc. Please visit LinuxToday.com for up-to-date news and articles about Linux and open source.