Cheap small office build, 6PCs, 40/10 DSL

Mithrandir

Hi all, recently m0n0wall Pentium II box went to computer heaven, so I decided to upgrade firewall/DHCP/DNS box.
Setup is: 6 workstation PC's and 1 server Windows SBS with storage. Have 40/10 DSL connection (I live in Croatia, Europe).

Will run: DHCP and OpenVPN (will be used occasionaly mostly by 1 user, max 2).

This is my build:
Case: LC-Power 1350Mi https://www.amazon.co.uk/LC-Power-LC-1350mi-computer-Mini-Tower-Mini-ITX/dp/B006J9UNZI
MB: ASRock J3455-ITX https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157728
SSD: Patriot SSD Flare 60GB
Network: TP-Link TG-3468 https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833704060
RAM: Patriot 2GB DDR3 1600Mhz https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220867

In total ~200 Euro incl. VAT.

I wanted to find Mobo with dual Intel NIC's but we don't have so much available options here in Croatia as you have in USA.
That's why I decided to go with Realtek cards RTL8111GR on board + RTL8168B PCIe card.
According to FreeBSD 10.3 compatibility list, both cards should be supported with re(4) driver.

If that won't work, I'll try to find some DUAL Intel PCIe card on ebay, cause they are crazy expensive here in retail.

Any suggestions/thoughts?

whosmatt

I think that will be fine for your uses, even with the Realtek NICs. 40/10 isn't really a demanding connection at all, and the rest of the build seems fine as far as CPU/RAM, etc goes.

tirsojrp

Get an APU2C4 kit.

Mithrandir

Consideration for my small build is will network card fit in such a low case, do I need low profile NIC?

@tirsojrp:

Get an APU2C4 kit.

Do you have any recommended shop that can do delivery in Europe (Croatia).
PC engines don't have direct sales in EU.
I've found this:
https://shop.tronico.net/Embedded-Computer/PC-Engines/APU-Mainboards/APU-2C4-system-board.html
So, board is 150Euro, without shipping, and I also need case, power supply and storage, if I understood correctly.

I've also found this:
http://varia-store.com/Hardware/PC-Engines-Bundles/APU-2C4-Bundles/APU2C4-System-Board-1-GHz-4-GB-DDR3-RAM-3x-LAN-Bundle::29101.html?XTCsid=b0hrl02md64v6j786o5710dk00
It's 180 Euro + shipping it's about 200Euro, which is same as my custom build, it maybe has less raw CPU power, but has Intel NIC's.

Now you've given me head to scratch-go for custom build or APU2C4 kit :)

Tnx for the recommendation!

gcu_greyarea

There should be some cheap C2000 based systems in the market soon. Have an eye on ebay.
You might even be able to afford a secondary cold standby system.

messerchmidt

Would go matx j3455, matx case, and add a dual intel lan card. 8gb ram is sufficient.

messerchmidt

Keep an eye out of a cheap zoltac CI325 if you want cheap. Add ram and a 120gb ssd.

Mithrandir

I've actually ordered APU2C4 bundle. I'll post my impressions when it comes :)

messerchmidt

@Mithrandir:

I've actually ordered APU2C4 bundle. I'll post my impressions when it comes :)

not enough ram and that amd apu is obsolete. ok if you do not run squid+squidguard i guess

whosmatt

@messerchmidt:

not enough ram and that amd apu is obsolete. ok if you do not run squid+squidguard i guess

For a 40/10 DSL connection? It'll be more than enough. I run a 45/5 VDSL connection on a tiny VM on a tiny low power ESXI server and have more than enough power for OpenVPN at full speed serving ~30 nodes or so in my home, 3 LAN segments. Even 512MB RAM is enough for that use case. OP specifically stated his use case and it didn't include proxy or IDS. Even if it had, I still think the APU2C4 would be more than enough.

Jailer

@messerchmidt:

not enough ram and that amd apu is obsolete. ok if you do not run squid+squidguard i guess

4GB of RAM is more than enough. I run Snort and pfBlockerNG with my APU2C4 and memory usage is normally around 12% to 20%.

whosmatt

@Jailer:

4GB of RAM is more than enough. I run Snort and pfBlockerNG with my APU2C4 and memory usage is normally around 12% to 20%.

Again and again I find myself baffled by why people think they need so much RAM to run pfSense. Thanks for the real-world example.

messerchmidt

squid+squidguard , with that many users, will need more then 4gb

the cpu will bottleneck clamav

my core2 e6420 @ 3.2ghz with 4gb ddr2 is enough for me alone on 250/20 cable, but has issues when heavy load as per snort and clamav in squid on large transfers

got a s1366 with a 6 core xeon and 12gb ddr3 that will become my pfsense box

Mithrandir

Till last month I was running monowall on Pentium ii 300Mhz with 384MB RAM. I won't run squid here, just OpenVPN which will be used rarely.

I think APU2C4 is overkill for my needs, but I like form factor and consumption.
It should also be future proofed if higher speeds become available in my area.

pfBasic

@whosmatt:

@Jailer:

4GB of RAM is more than enough. I run Snort and pfBlockerNG with my APU2C4 and memory usage is normally around 12% to 20%.

Again and again I find myself baffled by why people think they need so much RAM to run pfSense. Thanks for the real-world example.

It depends on what you're doing with it.

My system pretty much always has 50-60% of 8GB in use.

Jailer

@pfBasic:

It depends on what you're doing with it.

My system pretty much always has 50-60% of 8GB in use.

I agree 100%. I only offered my example of what could be expected on a slow connection with a couple of packages running. YMMV definitely applies here.

whosmatt

@pfBasic:

It depends on what you're doing with it.

My system pretty much always has 50-60% of 8GB in use.

Agreed. I was just responding specifically to the OP's specific use case and the apparent knee-jerk reaction regarding the hardware (and specifically the RAM) required. Obviously you can use a fair amount of RAM. But that doesn't mean you need it to run a pfSense firewall. The packages will soak it up, no doubt. But those are optional.

Guest

In total ~200 Euro incl. VAT.

APU2C4 bundle with 16 Gb or 32 GB might be coming also on 200 Euro - 220 Euro here in Germany
and the Varia store is selling and shipping world wide!