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    I want to assemble a pfSense server and am seeking recommendations from expert friends.

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved General pfSense Questions
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    • S
      SteveITS Galactic Empire @bmeeks
      last edited by

      @bmeeks Speed wise yes but not with pfSense CE. :). I honestly do not know how far the 1100/2100 CPU is from a Pi? But I digress…

      Pre-2.7.2/23.09: Only install packages for your version, or risk breaking it. Select your branch in System/Update/Update Settings.
      When upgrading, allow 10-15 minutes to restart, or more depending on packages and device speed.
      Upvote 👍 helpful posts!

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      • bmeeksB
        bmeeks @SteveITS
        last edited by

        @SteveITS said in I want to assemble a pfSense server and am seeking recommendations from expert friends.:

        @bmeeks Speed wise yes but not with pfSense CE. :). I honestly do not know how far the 1100/2100 CPU is from a Pi? But I digress…

        I wasn't serious with the Pi thing -- just a joke. My point was that just about any hardware these days could handle basic routing fuctions if it only has to work with 12 megabits/sec of actual routed traffic.

        S 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • S
          SteveITS Galactic Empire @bmeeks
          last edited by

          @bmeeks oh I know, I was “yes and”-ing you.

          Pre-2.7.2/23.09: Only install packages for your version, or risk breaking it. Select your branch in System/Update/Update Settings.
          When upgrading, allow 10-15 minutes to restart, or more depending on packages and device speed.
          Upvote 👍 helpful posts!

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          • stephenw10S
            stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
            last edited by

            I read that as more likely 12Mbps per user. Which is obviously more than the total available but may work. OP may want to try bandwidth sharing scheme with dynamic Limiters.

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            • mettoalM
              mettoal @bmeeks
              last edited by

              @bmeeks 12 mbits per user, for 1 person :)

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              • bmeeksB
                bmeeks @mettoal
                last edited by

                @mettoal said in I want to assemble a pfSense server and am seeking recommendations from expert friends.:

                @bmeeks 12 mbits per user, for 1 person :)

                ah- that is different. That was not immediately clear from the post (at least that's not how I interpreted it).

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                • S
                  SteveITS Galactic Empire @mettoal
                  last edited by

                  @mettoal what’s the actual total speed though..? That’s like 95% of your question.

                  Any packages? Captive portal?

                  Pre-2.7.2/23.09: Only install packages for your version, or risk breaking it. Select your branch in System/Update/Update Settings.
                  When upgrading, allow 10-15 minutes to restart, or more depending on packages and device speed.
                  Upvote 👍 helpful posts!

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • S
                    SteveITS Galactic Empire @mettoal
                    last edited by

                    @mettoal Let me say it another way… under 500 Mbps a 2100 is probably sufficient at least in terms of power.

                    For headroom/future expansion and I’d guess up to around 4-5 Gbps a 4200 should suffice. Get two 4200s or two of something with 3 NICs in it to use High Availability. 4 NICs if you want the hotel network isolated from guests. (Otherwise that could have its own router etc. Continue with other networks or PCI/credit card, etc)

                    4200: CPU: Intel Atom C1110 with AVX2, 4-core @ 2.1 GHz, and 4 total NICs

                    Pre-2.7.2/23.09: Only install packages for your version, or risk breaking it. Select your branch in System/Update/Update Settings.
                    When upgrading, allow 10-15 minutes to restart, or more depending on packages and device speed.
                    Upvote 👍 helpful posts!

                    mettoalM 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • mettoalM
                      mettoal @SteveITS
                      last edited by

                      @SteveITS

                      Would the following hardware be sufficient? for 1500 users my backbone switch 25 gbe support already. ı am looking just server hardware
                      Processor: Xeon E5-2697A V4
                      RAM: 64 GB DDR4 2400 Mhz
                      NIC: Intel X710 Da2 10Gbe
                      SSD: 500 GB Samsung 980 Pro M2 NVMe

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                      • S
                        SteveITS Galactic Empire @mettoal
                        last edited by

                        @mettoal ok well 25 Gbps is the complete other end of the scale. :) Perhaps Steve can comment on the upper limits of pfSense related to that CPU but it’s why Netgate developed TNSR.

                        Pre-2.7.2/23.09: Only install packages for your version, or risk breaking it. Select your branch in System/Update/Update Settings.
                        When upgrading, allow 10-15 minutes to restart, or more depending on packages and device speed.
                        Upvote 👍 helpful posts!

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

                          @mettoal said in I want to assemble a pfSense server and am seeking recommendations from expert friends.:

                          E5-2697A V4

                          Yeah you need something like that to pass 10G if that's what you need to do. 25G is really beyond pfSense for the most part.

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                          • P
                            pwood999
                            last edited by

                            What's the existing load on the 1Gig connection at peak times ? If it's below 100%, then there's your required bandwidth. If it's often maxed out, then you need the 10G link before confirming PfSense hardware.

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