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    PFsense hardware recommendation HELP!

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved General pfSense Questions
    19 Posts 6 Posters 2.3k Views
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    • NollipfSenseN
      NollipfSense @enesas
      last edited by

      @enesas said in PFsense hardware recommendation HELP!:

      considering an i5 or i7 10 -12 generation processor.

      I would pick the i7-12th generation just to be on the safe side...

      pfSense+ 23.09 Lenovo Thinkcentre M93P SFF Quadcore i7 dual Raid-ZFS 128GB-SSD 32GB-RAM PCI-Intel i350-t4 NIC, -Intel QAT 8950.
      pfSense+ 23.09 VM-Proxmox, Dell Precision Xeon-W2155 Nvme 500GB-ZFS 128GB-RAM PCIe-Intel i350-t4, Intel QAT-8950, P-cloud.

      C 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • stephenw10S
        stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
        last edited by

        What is the actual CPU currently in use?

        What bandwidth does the firewall need to pass?

        E P 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • E
          enesas @stephenw10
          last edited by

          @stephenw10
          CPU: Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5520 @ 2.27GHz (2266.82-MHz K8-class CPU)

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • stephenw10S
            stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
            last edited by

            @enesas said in PFsense hardware recommendation HELP!:

            E5520

            Ok pretty old then but capable. If it's running at 90% it must be passing significant traffic. What bandwidth does the firewall need to pass?

            Almost any current CPU will be as fast or faster than that Xeon though.

            E 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • JKnottJ
              JKnott @enesas
              last edited by

              @enesas

              I bought a Qotom mini PC, as described in my sig. Works well.

              PfSense running on Qotom mini PC
              i5 CPU, 4 GB memory, 32 GB SSD & 4 Intel Gb Ethernet ports.
              UniFi AC-Lite access point

              I haven't lost my mind. It's around here...somewhere...

              E 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • E
                enesas @JKnott
                last edited by

                @JKnott said in PFsense hardware recommendation HELP!:

                @enesas

                I bought a Qotom mini PC, as described in my sig. Works well.

                IS YOUR CONFIGURATION SIMILAR TO WHAT I AM SAYING?

                I ASKED FOR COMPARISON.

                JKnottJ NollipfSenseN 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • E
                  enesas @stephenw10
                  last edited by

                  @stephenw10 said in PFsense hardware recommendation HELP!:

                  @enesas said in PFsense hardware recommendation HELP!:

                  E5520

                  Ok pretty old then but capable. If it's running at 90% it must be passing significant traffic. What bandwidth does the firewall need to pass?

                  Almost any current CPU will be as fast or faster than that Xeon though.

                  The Wan side has approximately 1 Gbit Bandwidth.
                  If I do local or inter-Lan, this can reach 3-4 gbit.
                  (not always)

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • JKnottJ
                    JKnott @enesas
                    last edited by JKnott

                    @enesas said in PFsense hardware recommendation HELP!:

                    IS YOUR CONFIGURATION SIMILAR TO WHAT I AM SAYING?

                    The configuration depends on how you set it up. I do have a VLAN for example, but I do not use snort, etc.. You need hardware with enough resources to do what you want. With my system, the CPU is running at less than 10% when running speedtest at over 900 Mb down.

                    Regardess, you don't have to get what I got. There are plenty of other mini PCs around and many are intended for use with pfSense or OPNsense. They are also available with varying number of Ethernet ports. Mine has 4.

                    PfSense running on Qotom mini PC
                    i5 CPU, 4 GB memory, 32 GB SSD & 4 Intel Gb Ethernet ports.
                    UniFi AC-Lite access point

                    I haven't lost my mind. It's around here...somewhere...

                    E 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • NollipfSenseN
                      NollipfSense @enesas
                      last edited by

                      @enesas said in PFsense hardware recommendation HELP!:

                      IS YOUR CONFIGURATION SIMILAR TO WHAT I AM SAYING?

                      I ASKED FOR COMPARISON.

                      So, why shout at him...no where in your original post did you asked for comparison...you asked for recommendation and indicated you're considering i5 or i7 processor. He gave you an i5 processor hardware recommendation, didn't he?

                      Ultimately, only you, as network administrator of your network will determine what's best for you. We all had to make our own choice of hardware for what we want to accomplish with our network.

                      pfSense+ 23.09 Lenovo Thinkcentre M93P SFF Quadcore i7 dual Raid-ZFS 128GB-SSD 32GB-RAM PCI-Intel i350-t4 NIC, -Intel QAT 8950.
                      pfSense+ 23.09 VM-Proxmox, Dell Precision Xeon-W2155 Nvme 500GB-ZFS 128GB-RAM PCIe-Intel i350-t4, Intel QAT-8950, P-cloud.

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                      • P
                        Patch @stephenw10
                        last edited by

                        @stephenw10 said in PFsense hardware recommendation HELP!:

                        What bandwidth does the firewall need to pass?

                        @enesas Without providing that information very little specific advice can be given.

                        You already have a bench mark (your existing system), relative generic processor comparisons are easily found online. For balanced systems bench marked for pfsense performance see https://www.netgate.com/pfsense-plus-software/how-to-buy#appliances

                        There is no justification for shouting given your (some what lazy request) and considered responses received.

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                        • E
                          enesas
                          last edited by

                          I didn't shout at anyone! Maybe there is a pronunciation error due to translation. Don't be sorry about this.

                          Thank you all for taking the time to help.

                          stephenw10S 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • E
                            enesas @JKnott
                            last edited by

                            @JKnott Thank you very much

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • stephenw10S
                              stephenw10 Netgate Administrator @enesas
                              last edited by

                              @enesas said in PFsense hardware recommendation HELP!:

                              I didn't shout at anyone!

                              You wrote in all CAPS:

                              @enesas said in PFsense hardware recommendation HELP!:

                              I ASKED FOR COMPARISON.

                              It was probably just a mistake but it reads like you are demanding a comparison. 😉

                              It's all good!

                              Steve

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                              • E
                                enesas
                                last edited by

                                Thanks everyone I bought the hardware.

                                ⬇️
                                500gb NVM
                                i7 12 . GENERATION
                                32GB RAM.
                                Lan: sfp+ NIC

                                The hardware may be a little high, but that's okay, after all, we don't change it all the time. :)

                                NollipfSenseN 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • NollipfSenseN
                                  NollipfSense @enesas
                                  last edited by

                                  @enesas Good choice...should last at least five-years...congrats!

                                  pfSense+ 23.09 Lenovo Thinkcentre M93P SFF Quadcore i7 dual Raid-ZFS 128GB-SSD 32GB-RAM PCI-Intel i350-t4 NIC, -Intel QAT 8950.
                                  pfSense+ 23.09 VM-Proxmox, Dell Precision Xeon-W2155 Nvme 500GB-ZFS 128GB-RAM PCIe-Intel i350-t4, Intel QAT-8950, P-cloud.

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                  • stephenw10S
                                    stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                    last edited by

                                    Yeah that should handle just about anything!

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                    • C
                                      coxhaus @NollipfSense
                                      last edited by

                                      @NollipfSense
                                      Why 12th gen? Is the CPU instruction set that much different?

                                      NollipfSenseN 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • NollipfSenseN
                                        NollipfSense @coxhaus
                                        last edited by

                                        @coxhaus said in PFsense hardware recommendation HELP!:

                                        Why 12th gen? Is the CPU instruction set that much different?

                                        It was the OP's choice and I just affirmed...

                                        pfSense+ 23.09 Lenovo Thinkcentre M93P SFF Quadcore i7 dual Raid-ZFS 128GB-SSD 32GB-RAM PCI-Intel i350-t4 NIC, -Intel QAT 8950.
                                        pfSense+ 23.09 VM-Proxmox, Dell Precision Xeon-W2155 Nvme 500GB-ZFS 128GB-RAM PCIe-Intel i350-t4, Intel QAT-8950, P-cloud.

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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