Would you ever put your Windows Server online without a firewall?

Just wonder....

[dataguy]

I have a pretty nice 1U server running 2003 Enterprise that I bought to keep at my house as a spare and I've been doing daily backups to it from my ISP over VPN.

I just got an offer from a local datacenter that says they will co-locate my box for $65 a month which seems very appealing. The problem is that they offer only minimal firewall protection. They said they can turn off ports, but they don't do anything like stateful packet inspection. If I need more I would have to lease another rack space and supply my own firewall.

For $130 a month I could lease an entire server so I hate to pay that much just to plug in my own equipment.

Do you think if I have the ISP block all ports except 80 and whatever I use for remote management I would be relatively safe?

[txbakers]

I wouldn't be caught anywhere a near a server without a solid HARDWARE firewall in front of it.

But that's just my opinion.

[Easy_Coder]

me neither... murphys law comes to mind.

[mrMister]

For Port Blocking, I'm happy with a software based firewall as long as the box has plenty of resources free.

[aspdaddy]

After doing an ethical hacking course, I am very paranoid. Hardening has to be done right from the lowest level - applications, OS, not just at the firwewall.

As for stateful packet inspection, all commercial products firewall support this nowdays as standard. If its only doing basic IOS packet filters then its a router not a firewall.

[dataguy]

If its only doing basic IOS packet filters then its a router not a firewall.

Actually, they said they use a firewall with its firewall capabilities bypassed due to liability reasons... which sounds kind of backwards to me...