Netgate Discussion Forum
    • Categories
    • Recent
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Users
    • Search
    • Register
    • Login

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

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved General pfSense Questions
    23 Posts 6 Posters 2.2k Views 6 Watching
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • S Offline
      SteveITS Rebel Alliance @bmeeks
      last edited by

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

      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 reboot, or more depending on packages, and device or disk speed.
      Upvote 👍 helpful posts!

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • stephenw10S Offline
        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.

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

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

          bmeeksB S 3 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • bmeeksB Offline
            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).

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • S Offline
              SteveITS Rebel Alliance @mettoal
              last edited by

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

              Any packages? Captive portal?

              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 reboot, or more depending on packages, and device or disk speed.
              Upvote 👍 helpful posts!

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • S Offline
                SteveITS Rebel Alliance @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

                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 reboot, or more depending on packages, and device or disk speed.
                Upvote 👍 helpful posts!

                mettoalM 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • mettoalM Offline
                  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

                  S 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • S Offline
                    SteveITS Rebel Alliance @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.

                    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 reboot, or more depending on packages, and device or disk speed.
                    Upvote 👍 helpful posts!

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • stephenw10S Offline
                      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.

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • P Offline
                        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.

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • First post
                          Last post
                        Copyright 2025 Rubicon Communications LLC (Netgate). All rights reserved.