Member Avatar for dualzNZ

Hi all i have a tiny question
I have 5 IBM Blade servers running at my home using 1 external Static IP Address, is there any way i can forward certain ports to the different servers and people outside the network can access that Server instead of using DMZ on a router.

so say GAME Server = blade 1
Web server = blade 2
and so forth.

is this possible to do or should i invest in expanding my external services to use 5 internet connections

cheers

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by cguan_77

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Short answer: a single static IPv4 address can publish many servers. The common approaches are (a) host-based routing for HTTP(S) using a reverse proxy, (b) port translation / NAT for services that insist on their own port, or (c) a VPN/bastion for private access. That aligns with points made by and , and extends the practical how-to beyond the brief port-forward suggestions from and . DMZ is rarely the safest choice because it hands a single host full exposure.

A practical pattern for web traffic is to forward only 80/443 to a small reverse-proxy (nginx, HAProxy, Apache) and route requests to blades by hostname (Host header) or SNI. Example nginx vhost-style proxy (replace names and internal IPs):

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name web.example.com;
    location / {
        proxy_pass http://192.168.1.12;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
    }
}

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name api.example.com;
    location / { proxy_pass http://192.168.1.13; }
}

For non-HTTP services (game servers, custom TCP/UDP) use port translation or a TCP/UDP proxy. A simple iptables DNAT example to forward a public UDP/TCP port to an internal host:

iptables -t nat -A PREROUTING -p udp --dport 27015 -j DNAT --to-destination 192.168.1.101:27015
iptables -A FORWARD -p udp -d 192.168.1.101 --dport 27015 -j ACCEPT

Implementation notes and cautions: confirm router supports UDP forwarding and NAT reflection (hairpin NAT) if internal testing is needed; residential ISPs may block common ports or prohibit server hosting; terminate TLS at the proxy for simpler certificate management (SNI-aware); restrict firewall rules to only required ports and log access; monitor reverse-proxy CPU and bandwidth so it does not become a bottleneck. Buying extra public IPs or connections is usually unnecessary — a small proxy/router appliance plus correct NAT/proxying will serve multiple blades on one static IP.

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Member Avatar for dualzNZ

this question is still unanswered, i have looked on the net for more information but didnt help much.

cheers

Member Avatar for CimmerianX

It depends on the model of our perimeter router. Most recent models support inbond port forwarding. So what do you have?

Member Avatar for JorgeM

With one external public IP address, port forwarding is logical option. You could also provide VPN services so external users can access internal resources but that solution is not likely to fit well based on your description.

Member Avatar for getnit

It should not be difficult to do port forwarding on the router, you just have to specify what is the service that is accessed from outside and where it has to hit inside. For example port 80 traffic forwarded to port 8080 internally, and port 25 traffic to port 8081....single ip address though.

Member Avatar for cguan_77

as JorgeM suggest you can do port forwarding like:

so GAME Server = blade 1 -->Private IP:192.168.1.101 --> Router Config, route Public IP port 8080 to 192.168.1.101
so to access game server would be:

Web server = blade 2 -->Private IP:192.168.1.102 likewise in blade2, Router Config, route Public IP port 7070 to 192.168.1.102
so to access blade 2 (if it offers web)

On your game server and blade 2 you must set those ports to listen for incoming connections.

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