Via C7 1.5GHz vs AMD Geode 1.4GHz
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The quality of the network cards matters a lot too - you can push more packets with an Intel Server card than an Intel desktop card, than a Realtek card (which means if you get the expensive cards, you can possibly get away with a lower spec CPU).
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In that case maybe I should see if I can get my hands on one of these. Either that, or I could try putting in a decent 1-port server NIC and use a managed switch and give vlans a go. Although I'm not quite sure what that does performance wise.
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Either one should work just fine for the load you've got.
Try the 1.2.1 snapshots if you're feeling daring - it's based on FreeBSD 7 (vs FreeBSD 6.2 that 1.2 is based on) and networking performance is much improved in FreeBSD 7.
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In that case maybe I should see if I can get my hands on one of these.
You'll get a lower bandwidth if your box doesn't have a PCI-X slot (though it'll still work). The PCI slot has a bandwidth limit of 133 MB/s (just over 1 Gb/s). That's enough for a single GBit adapter. Newer PCI versions (2.2) increase that to an optional 266 MB/s (just over 2 Gb/s), but you need PCI-X for enough bandwidth for 4 x 1 Gb/s links.
Also known as - it's complicated, check your motherboard manual to see what it really supports ;)
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I've spotted a couple of these cards on ebay for not too much. And since with 2x 20mbit it'll have to push not much more then 80mbit through the PCI bus it shouldn't be a problem bandwidth wise.
Thanks for the reminder though. I read across this a little too fast the first time and thought it supported both PCI 1 and 2.2, instead of PCI-X 1.0 and PCI 2.2.
Supports 3.3 volt 64-bit PCI-X* 1.0 or PCI 2.2 buses
The jetway boards I'm looking at don't have a PCI 2.2 slot so I guess I'll have to look for a different NIC.
When I get the hardware I think I'll try out the new 1.2.1 snapshots. It's not a very mission critical system, and I'm all for trying new things ;)
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I'd suggest a look at this MSI motherboard. Not only does it have 3 onboard Intel based Gbit ports, but it has a PCI-E x16, a PCI-E x1 and a PCI slots (and takes a dual core processor). From the Intel specification of the controller, it's a rev 2.3 PCI slot.
(I was looking at this when I thought my FX5620 was a brick)
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Thanks for the link. But I'm looking for an energy efficient solution that uses less then 30W.
So right now I'm considering a Jetway J7F4 C7 1.2GHz (7W) with 1GB DDR2 @400MHz a 60GB 2.5" SATA HDScorpio 8MB1pk(3W) and a D-Link DFE-580TX (3W)NIC. Together that should stay below 15W. Efficiency really drops for PSU's when you put too small of a load on them. So adding a standard PSU should keep it just below 30W if it manages around 50% effeciency, which sucks, but ok.
30W will cost me around €60,-/year and I think that's very acceptable.
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Sub 150W, take a look at the picoPSU range, they do a 60W version. You can find a review of the 120W version here.
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@Cry:
I'd suggest a look at this MSI motherboard. Not only does it have 3 onboard Intel based Gbit ports, but it has a PCI-E x16, a PCI-E x1 and a PCI slots (and takes a dual core processor). From the Intel specification of the controller, it's a rev 2.3 PCI slot.
(I was looking at this when I thought my FX5620 was a brick)
Has anyone actually tried one of these with pfsense? Looks like a great choice for a "busy" firewall, especially for people doing lots of VPNs since you can stash a mobile core2duo in there.
Best,
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I haven't (just turned out to be bad RAM in my existing box so I didn't replace it), though if you can find anybody using it on FreeBSD 7.0 (which is what pfSense 1.2.1 is based on) or 6.2 (pfSense 1.2) then you'll know pfSense will work. Certainly the key hardware items (such as the network interfaces) are on the supported hardware lists.
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@Cry:
I'd suggest a look at this MSI motherboard. Not only does it have 3 onboard Intel based Gbit ports, but it has a PCI-E x16, a PCI-E x1 and a PCI slots (and takes a dual core processor). From the Intel specification of the controller, it's a rev 2.3 PCI slot.
(I was looking at this when I thought my FX5620 was a brick)
Has anyone actually tried one of these with pfsense? Looks like a great choice for a "busy" firewall, especially for people doing lots of VPNs since you can stash a mobile core2duo in there.
Best,
We build server appliances using these boards, but I would not recommend them if you're looking to utilize the pci-express slot. It is a PEG slot ONLY. Additionally, Intel is not making the Socket M processors anymore, so it's increasingly difficult to find them.
