IPCop runs on a dedicated box, and it completely takes over the hard drive, so don't use a drive with anything valuable on it. It will run on old, or "obsolete" hardware, such as a 386 processor, 32Mb of RAM, and 300Mb hard disk. But if you plan on using some of IPCop's features, such as the caching web proxy, or Intrusion Detection Logging, you are going to need more RAM, more disk space, and a faster processor.

A floppy disk is not required, but is useful for backing up and upgrading your system.

A CDROM drive makes it easy to install IPCop, but again is not required if you know how to install over your network using HTTP.

At least one Network Interface Card NIC is required. User feedback suggests that you get what you pay for; so fitting a good quality 10/100Mbps Ethernet card for the Green Interface is worth it. If you will be connecting to the Internet via a cable modem, you will need two NICs.

IPCop can also be installed on a Compact Flash card (Instructions on how to do this are available in Appendix C of the Installation Manual).

Once installed you don't need to have a monitor or keyboard attached to the IPCop box, as it runs as a headless server, and is administered over the network with a web browser.

Version 1.4.0 adds support for systems with PCMCIA and SCSI.

Obtain a copy of the IPCop CD, or download the .iso file and burn the image onto a CD.