@matguy:

a relatively cheap "server" plus an inexpensive quad port card (or even dual, depending on your needs) for the individually assigned ports, especially if they don't have to be Gigabit.

My path would be similar to yours…
Pick up a cheap 1U surplus/retired server and throw in 1 or 2 quad port card. This would give you 6 or 10 total gigabit ports.
Cheap HP DL360 G4's are dirt cheap nowadays (you can get a decent one for around $100 mark ) and the quad port cards hover around 40 to 80 each on fleabay...

Install pfSense and assign ports accordingly.
Do you really need VLAN's ?
Or can you get away with assigning different networks and setting up rules for devices on the network ?

I'm running an "overkill" box and have no issues besides the lack of Infiniband drivers for IPoIB, but i don't know how to compile or code so i have to sit and wait patiently which isn't a strong suit of mine LOL

For newer devices that don't have IDE support this might just pull a premium instead of SSD's ;)

Also…
I seen somewhere a dual card unit that runs RAID between the 2 cards and there is also a DP SAS version available :)
Was thinking for a while DUAL 64GB or 128GB / CF Adapter in a Raid 5 configuration across 12 DP SAS drives

Edit:
Went looking and...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/SATA-to-Dual-CF-Compact-Flash-SSD-RAID-Adapter-/270990102863?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f1844d14f

:)

/hijack

Using this disk again. Errors popping up again on a fresh install. Have disabled DMA getting this at boot will see if it continues:
Jul 1 00:25:26 kernel: ad4: TIMEOUT - READ_MUL48 retrying (1 retry left) LBA=430935279
Jul 1 00:25:26 kernel: ad4: TIMEOUT - READ_MUL48 retrying (1 retry left) LBA=430940303

smartctl 5.42 2011-10-20 r3458 [FreeBSD 8.3-RELEASE-p3 i386] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-11 by Bruce Allen, http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net

=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1
Num  Test_Description    Status                  Remaining  LifeTime(hours)  LBA_of_first_error

1  Extended offline    Completed without error      00%      799        - 2  Extended offline    Completed without error      00%      559        - 3  Extended offline    Aborted by host              70%      557        - 4  Short offline      Completed without error      00%      552        - 5  Short offline      Completed without error      00%      386        -

smartctl 5.42 2011-10-20 r3458 [FreeBSD 8.3-RELEASE-p3 i386] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-11 by Bruce Allen, http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net

=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 16
Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds:
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME          FLAG    VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE      UPDATED  WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE
  1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate    0x000b  100  100  062    Pre-fail  Always      -      0
  2 Throughput_Performance  0x0005  100  100  040    Pre-fail  Offline      -      0
  3 Spin_Up_Time            0x0007  147  147  033    Pre-fail  Always      -      2
  4 Start_Stop_Count        0x0012  100  100  000    Old_age  Always      -      849
  5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct  0x0033  100  100  005    Pre-fail  Always      -      0
  7 Seek_Error_Rate        0x000b  100  100  067    Pre-fail  Always      -      0
  8 Seek_Time_Performance  0x0005  100  100  040    Pre-fail  Offline      -      0
  9 Power_On_Hours          0x0012  099  099  000    Old_age  Always      -      801
10 Spin_Retry_Count        0x0013  100  100  060    Pre-fail  Always      -      0
12 Power_Cycle_Count      0x0032  100  100  000    Old_age  Always      -      458
191 G-Sense_Error_Rate      0x000a  100  100  000    Old_age  Always      -      0
192 Power-Off_Retract_Count 0x0032  100  100  000    Old_age  Always      -      37
193 Load_Cycle_Count        0x0012  095  095  000    Old_age  Always      -      54937
194 Temperature_Celsius    0x0002  148  148  000    Old_age  Always      -      37 (Min/Max 11/45)
196 Reallocated_Event_Count 0x0032  100  100  000    Old_age  Always      -      9
197 Current_Pending_Sector  0x0022  100  100  000    Old_age  Always      -      0
198 Offline_Uncorrectable  0x0008  100  100  000    Old_age  Offline      -      0
199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count    0x000a  200  200  000    Old_age  Always      -      7
223 Load_Retry_Count        0x000a  100  100  000    Old_age  Always      -      0

smartctl 5.42 2011-10-20 r3458 [FreeBSD 8.3-RELEASE-p3 i386] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-11 by Bruce Allen, http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net

=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART Error Log Version: 1
ATA Error Count: 171 (device log contains only the most recent five errors)
CR = Command Register [HEX]
FR = Features Register [HEX]
SC = Sector Count Register [HEX]
SN = Sector Number Register [HEX]
CL = Cylinder Low Register [HEX]
CH = Cylinder High Register [HEX]
DH = Device/Head Register [HEX]
DC = Device Command Register [HEX]
ER = Error register [HEX]
ST = Status register [HEX]
Powered_Up_Time is measured from power on, and printed as
DDd+hh:mm:SS.sss where DD=days, hh=hours, mm=minutes,
SS=sec, and sss=millisec. It "wraps" after 49.710 days.

Error 171 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 748 hours (31 days + 4 hours)
  When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.

After command completion occurred, registers were:
  ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
  – -- -- -- -- -- --
  84 51 80 7f 24 64 ea  Error: ICRC, ABRT at LBA = 0x0a64247f = 174335103

Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
  CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC  Powered_Up_Time  Command/Feature_Name
  -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --  ----------------  --------------------
  ca 00 00 ff 23 64 ea 00  7d+22:31:00.000  WRITE DMA
  ca 00 00 ff 22 64 ea 00  7d+22:31:00.000  WRITE DMA
  ca 00 00 ff 21 64 ea 00  7d+22:31:00.000  WRITE DMA
  ca 00 00 ff 20 64 ea 00  7d+22:31:00.000  WRITE DMA
  ca 00 00 ff 1f 64 ea 00  7d+22:31:00.000  WRITE DMA

Error 170 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 744 hours (31 days + 0 hours)
  When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.

After command completion occurred, registers were:
  ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
  -- -- -- -- -- -- --
  84 51 10 0f e6 0c ea  Error: ICRC, ABRT 16 sectors at LBA = 0x0a0ce60f = 168617487

Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
  CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC  Powered_Up_Time  Command/Feature_Name
  -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --  ----------------  --------------------
  c8 00 20 ff e5 0c ea 00  7d+18:14:48.500  READ DMA
  ca 00 0c ff 10 63 ea 00  7d+18:14:48.400  WRITE DMA
  ca 00 20 bf d6 0c ea 00  7d+18:14:48.400  WRITE DMA
  ca 00 20 bf d6 0c ea 00  7d+18:14:48.400  WRITE DMA
  ca 00 0c df f8 67 ea 00  7d+18:14:48.400  WRITE DMA

Error 169 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 610 hours (25 days + 10 hours)
  When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.

After command completion occurred, registers were:
  ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
  -- -- -- -- -- -- --
  84 51 00 5a e8 0c ea  Error: ICRC, ABRT at LBA = 0x0a0ce85a = 168618074

Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
  CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC  Powered_Up_Time  Command/Feature_Name
  -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --  ----------------  --------------------
  ca 00 04 57 e8 0c ea 00  2d+04:30:10.300  WRITE DMA
  ca 00 20 3f 7f 12 ea 00  2d+04:30:10.300  WRITE DMA
  ca 00 04 57 e8 0c ea 00  2d+04:30:10.300  WRITE DMA
  ca 00 20 3f 7f 12 ea 00  2d+04:30:10.300  WRITE DMA
  ca 00 04 57 e8 0c ea 00  2d+04:30:10.300  WRITE DMA

Error 168 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 533 hours (22 days + 5 hours)
  When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.

After command completion occurred, registers were:
  ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
  -- -- -- -- -- -- --
  84 51 10 4f d9 0c ea  Error: ICRC, ABRT at LBA = 0x0a0cd94f = 168614223

Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
  CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC  Powered_Up_Time  Command/Feature_Name
  -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --  ----------------  --------------------
  ca 00 20 3f d9 0c ea 00  2d+04:59:56.000  WRITE DMA
  ca 00 08 df 92 77 eb 00  2d+04:59:56.000  WRITE DMA
  ca 00 20 1f d9 0c ea 00  2d+04:59:56.000  WRITE DMA
  ca 00 08 df 92 77 eb 00  2d+04:59:56.000  WRITE DMA
  ca 00 20 ff d8 0c ea 00  2d+04:59:56.000  WRITE DMA

Error 167 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 532 hours (22 days + 4 hours)
  When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.

After command completion occurred, registers were:
  ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
  -- -- -- -- -- -- --
  84 51 00 3e 9c 66 ea  Error: ICRC, ABRT at LBA = 0x0a669c3e = 174496830

Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
  CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC  Powered_Up_Time  Command/Feature_Name
  -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --  ----------------  --------------------
  ca 00 04 3b 9c 66 ea 00  2d+04:05:37.400  WRITE DMA
  ca 00 04 37 9c 66 ea 00  2d+04:05:37.400  WRITE DMA
  ca 00 04 33 9c 66 ea 00  2d+04:05:37.400  WRITE DMA
  ca 00 14 bf a0 6b ea 00  2d+04:05:37.400  WRITE DMA
  ca 00 04 2f 9c 66 ea 00  2d+04:05:37.400  WRITE DMA

@bmironb:

is pfsense working fine from usb stick ?speed is enough….

In short - yes. Even if I force the port to usb 1.1 it still loads the os quickly. Didn't have the chance to measure the time as it is under heavy use since I've configured it but I'm pretty sure it loads in less than a minute. Booting from USB shouldn't affect the network performance in any way.

You can run Squid on embedded but you can't cache to the CF card.
That means you run it with no cache, just using it for web filtering/logging or you cache to ram. 256MB is not enough to cache to ram in any meaningful way.

Steve

Thank you all,
We are using some GA 945GCMX S2L with 2G RAM, CPU Intel E4600. CPU utilization always bellow 30% on both options.
I think using DLink cards is better choice.

ok, thanks :)

Just so i learn something,

How much would you think a box like that would handle?

And what do NATin influence the scaling part?

For a full install, from CD to the harddrive, you need the i386 ISO. I don't know which mirror is best for you, Italy perhaps.  :-
http://pfsense.mirror.range-id.it/downloads/pfSense-2.0.1-RELEASE-i386.iso.gz

Steve

Ha! Can happen to anyone.  ;)

Steve

Awesome.  Thanks for the help.

Well :)
I have a TopSpin 120 on its way :P
set me back a whoopin $120+ Shipping

That gives me 24x 10Gb ports…
6 Servers with 2 ports each still only 12 + 2 Up-links for my TRX-100 and that still leaves me with 10 empty ports.

Now if i just knew how to code the Mellanox drivers over would be great :)

There is no support for 802.11N in pfSense currently.
Some people have reported that particular NIC does work but it will only work at 'G' speeds.
See:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AojFUXcbH0ROdHgwYkFHbkRUdV9hVWljVWl5SXkxbFE&hl=en#gid=1

Steve

The core_temp driver should work with the D2500 just the same as any newer Intel CPU.

Steve

Wallabybob;

Tried both 2.0.1 and nightly 2.1.  2.0.1 gets the error listed.  2.1 panics a little differently.  Motherboard will not run 64-bit, tried that too.

Running from USB Flash drive.

I have been using a XG41 for half a year now both on 2.0.1 and lately the 2.1 (due to my IPv6 experimentation) and it has worked OK.

Please see my posts in the following thread:
http://forum.pfsense.org/index.php/topic,41742.0.html
and onward

See especially the following post.
http://forum.pfsense.org/index.php/topic,41742.msg217644.html#msg217644

Some people had problems with certain MAC revisions of 8111E chipset but I managed to get Shuttle techies to test
and they included the screenshots that these chipset in the XG41 was safe for FreeBSD 8.1.

The one not working was "re0: Chip rev. 0x2c800000"
XG41 is (at least in mine) reporting "re0: Chip rev. 0x2c000000" which should work.

And I have not experienced any timeouts or connection-loss.

When I last rebooted my XG41 after upgrade to 2.1 it had an up-time of 114 days.

Best regards
Dan Lundqvist
Stockholm, Sweden.

Processor - Atom or the 3rd generation low power i3 processor (Just 35 TDP (W) launching in a couple of days most likely). I highly recommend the i3 3rd generation.

Check out the leaked specs
http://news.softpedia.com/newsImage/Intel-Core-i3-Ivy-Bridge-CPU-Specs-Leaked-Lack-PCI-Express-3-0-4.jpg/

Mobo - Mini-ITX compatible with above 1155 i3 processor. Maybe Micro-ATX if you like. Mini-ITX would consume less power (I suppose). If you are going with Atom then most likely it will be a processor mobo combo.

RAM - 4GB RAM. I recommend 4GB+ if you are going to install resource intensive packages like Snort..etc

HDD - SSD would be better for fast Squid caching. Size depends on your needs. My recommendation.. start with 80GB to 128GB

No problem, glad you got it working.  :)
The rehash command causes FreeBSD to rebuild the list of files reachable in the path. After installing new files via a package you need to do this FreeBSD knows where they are or you can use the absolute path when calling the command.

Steve

Thank you very much.

did you try eBay?  ;)

@robi:

NanoBSD it's all in the RAM running, the storage is read-only. Power fail no problem.

This.