Backup your config file up, replace you flash with a hard drive and reinstall.  From there restore your configuration and allow it to reinstall all packages.  You should be good from there.  I done the same thing.
RC

Awesome. I do love jumbo frames! But seriously, that switch sounds like the right switch to me.

Thanks guys!

So no one else thinks it would be a bad idea to use Atom?

Still you are talking hardware only. Sorry, I don't get impressed easily…
As mentioned earlier in this thread and elsewhere, what matters is the amount of traffic you want to push between subnets/ NICs. And you didn't give those numbers AFAIK!

@wallabybob:

The irq <n>threads are effectively the interrupt handlers doing time critical processing such as allocating another receive buffer to replace now filled buffer holding a received frame. The less time critical processing (probably includes thing such as matching received packets against firewall rules) is handed off to swi1: net.

If you don't use USB you might be able to disable all the USB controllers in the BIOS and reduce the interrupt sharing even more by giving em0 sole use of irq 11.</n>

Thank you for the explanation.

I think that we  squeezed all from irq assigning, now I can't see that other devices shares irq with bge1 interface which utilizes most irq. Overall performance is still not satisfy.

The following steps are to use Intel 2 port Gigabit card in place of built-in Broadcom one.
And I suppose we have to look at our network activity and how pf handles packets, especially small ones.

Looking at the CVS commit logs and the associated diffs gives more information. The firmware is shipped with FreeBSD - it's in src/sys/dev/wi/spectrum24t_cf.h in all but HEAD (it has been moved in HEAD as part of the wireless improvements). The kernel option is required - but I see no need to have it turned off unless an extra few KBytes in the kernel (or wi module if wi(4) is a module) is a problem.

The only thing to be careful of is that the firmware has an advertising clause in its licence; see the header file I just mentioned for details.

FYI AS of now I'm very satisfied with Liantec's customer support. Easy to keep in touch with them, I shipped back the unit (at their expense) and am expecting it repaired any time soon (I was provided the shipment number as soon as the shipment was done).
More updates in a few days (time to get from taiwan to tokyo) .

EDIT :  Received the unit 2 days alter set it up. It's working perfectly. Those Liantec box make great pfsense appliances.

I picked up one of these on ebay. Installed 1.2.1 beta on it using a USB CDROM drive.

Factory bios password is Fireport for those of you who are looking for it.

I installed a 2.5" laptop IDE drive in it and used the 256meg IDE Flash for swap.

I added an atheros based PCI wireless card and a USB ethernet adapter.

Compared to the cost of a Mini-ITX system with power or an Alix system the $30 I spent on ebay was a bargain.

D

We're looking at supporting 20 road warrior VPN users and 4 site to site VPNS.
I'll order two for a hot standby.
Rack mounted in an indepentenly cooled server room.
We need 5 or greater NICS

I've really zeroed in on this particular model even after looking at the hacom line.  It has great features and a great price.  I'm still unsure about the mother board though.

http://www.abmx.com/1u-miniserver-with-gigabit-lan-p-362.html

1U Mini-Server with 4 x Gigabit LAN
ABMX Part # 114S7-4

Color Black Processor Intel Pentium Dual-Core E5200 (2.5GHz, 2MB, 800MHz FSB, 65W TDP, Energy-efficient) Memory 1GB (1 x 1GB) DDR2 SDRAM Chassis Upgrade Standard Chassis (2 x HDD Bays) Hard Drive 80GB SATA (7.2K rpm, 8MB Cache, 3.0Gb/s) 2nd Hard Drive (if compatible with Chassis Upgrade Option) Vacant External Optical Drive (for OS installation, Backups, etc.) None External Floppy Drive (for Windows RAID configuration, etc.) None PCI Expansion Slot (Req. Riser Card) Additional Network Adapter (Intel®, 10/100/1000 Mbps, with RR1U-X Riser) Remote Management None Rack Mounting Sliding Rails Kit 1U PT08 Sliding Rails Kit, 24-inch (41-inch extended) What Operating System do you plan on using? BSD Unix (FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD, etc.) Operating System Bit Version 32-bit Pre-installed** Operating System FreeBSD 6.3 - OS QA install, standard config, no CDs ** Windows Installation (w/ Microsoft Windows purchase only) No Windows installation required (Arbitrary test OS will remain for QA) Extended service plan 1 Year Limited Warranty, Return to Depot, Parts & Labor

no i have a 100mhz bus speed P3 1000/256/100

As others have discovered just stick to the Hitachi's and save your self any grief!

Thanks, thats great!

We are 'playing' with them and the more cards we can have the more it will be stable.

Smiggy,
  Checked and they're all good.  I've seen caps go bad before.  All of these are fine.  No bulging or leaking anywhere.
I even tried swapping out memory last night as a last resort test.  The system has been running fine all this time.  I've been using it as an X server for about 2 years now.

Thanks YeOldeStonecat!

I have researched Untangle some. From what I have seen, there is no dual WAN option. I did find Endian with dual WAN but out of both pfSense appears to have a larger following. So for OCD people like me or noobs like me, the support from people like yourself is great! Do you think there is any advantages running a UTM vs. a ipCop, Smoothwall, pfSense, etc?

Thanks again!

Nevermind,  I got everything working just fine.

To answer my own question: I found a 1.2 final embedded img that had console directed to VGA which was then a snap to setup.
Incidentally the Via Quad GbE pci nic was detected and fully functional.

Seems like I now have a low power, but very powerful 4 GbE port pfSense router for under $200 :)

Other options include switching the fan for one that pushes enough air, but with less noise (I've done that plenty of times) or install an adjustable fan controller (inline).