I have two desktops and a laptop running Arch Linux. I have not setup any iptable rules on any of the machines, and I am curious if I should.One desktop is only used in my home network and is protected by a cheap cable modem/router/firewall that is essentially unconfigured and unmaintained (I changed the default password when I got it and haven't looked at it since in 3 years). The desktop runs standard home user applications (e.g., web browsing and Skype) as well as an SSH server. As far as I can tell the firewall default configuration blocks all incoming connections since I can only connect to the SSH server from within my home network.The other desktop is behind my University's firewall. It is more permissive (I can SSH into the machine from off campus) and hopefully better maintained. Apart from the SSH server the machine doesn't do anything network related other than web browsing and Skype.The laptop is used behind the home firewall, the University firewall and sometime on unsecured public wireless and wired networks (e.g., hotels and coffee shops).Is it worth configuring IP tables and if so should the configuration vary across the machines? Potentially related, is it worth setting up a separate independent firewall to protect my home network?
Does IP tables need to be configured or is a stand alone firewall sufficient?
arch linux;iptables;firewall
Whether or not to use iptables is ultimately up to you.  You have to look at what it's capable of and what you want it do to.  At a very high level, iptables can do 3 things very well:Filter inbound network trafficFilter outbound network trafficLog trafficTypically, configuring iptables is unnecessary on systems that are behind a residential router because such a router should block inbound packets by default.  If you decide to expose a service to the Internet (ssh for example) and forward a port on your router to an ssh server in your network, then using iptables becomes a little more relevant. It can be used to filter traffic based on source or destination ip/network block, control the icmp errors your system responds to unwanted traffic with or even log every packet sent to anyone, ever.  The question really is: do you have any services on your computers that you don't want otherpeople to interact with?are there any external services you don't want people in your networkto be able to connect to?how much logging do you want to do?Additional info:CentOS iptables HOWTOUlogdman iptables search for REJECT