Best Hardware Recommendations for V2
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I was just wondering if anyone had some recommendations on the machines they are using to run pfsense?
I know there is an HCL, but that offers little in the way of recommended specs.
I currently run a 1U Dell R200 (Intel Core 2 Duo), with 2GB of DDR2 ECC RAM, and some size of SATA drive. Onboard NICs are broadcom (not sure on chipset). But, this box is underutilized, and could be used for something heavier. I just don't know how basic of a machine to run pfsense on, without impacting performance.
Usage:
50Mb Comcast Line
60-100 users
Squid is the only additional package installed. -
hardware sizing considerations haven't changed.
http://www.pfsense.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=52&Itemid=49You can get by with far less than that, a Pentium III would handle that load.
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Wow. I assumed that the new release would need beefier HW.
Thanks for the info.
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I have found that while you can get by with very little hardware when it comes to routing performance, the UI sure benefits from the upgrade. My connection is 40/4, and while a Geode 500 MHz CPU keeps up with that just fine, moving to a dual-core Atom D510 made the UI worlds more responsive. Likewise, I built and tested a Core i3 550 on pfsense, and I couldn't believe how nearly-instant it was to click on everything in the UI.
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confirmed: On an old P4 it was quite ok with webgiu, but net-performance was great with an 100MB/10MB bandwith. Only slowdown came from the PCI-only netcards (one 3com 100MB, one dlink 1GB). Now with an Atom D525 and 2 intel PCIe netcards netflow is somewhat better compared to before, but webgui is extraordinary!
With alix webgui is sometimes as slow as a sleeping rabbit, netflow is great. I have about 50 to 70 MB downloadrate with squid and squidguard enabled.