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    PXE ??

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved General pfSense Questions
    15 Posts 5 Posters 7.1k Views
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    • M
      Metu69salemi
      last edited by

      Why not to use another machine(even virtual) to do the pxe-environment. Rather than trying to add some services on firewall

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      • stephenw10S
        stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
        last edited by

        The FOG project looks pretty interesting. Great stuff if you're running a load of machines at a school or an internet cafe etc.
        However this will never make it into the main pfSense image. Adding services like this can only serve to reduce the security of the OS. Security is the main purpose of pfSense.
        Something similar could be added as a package. There are a number of tftp boot servers available for FreeBSD that could be used. It's unlikely it would have all the functionality of FOG though. It would require a very large storage capacity which is something a lot of (most?) pfSense boxes don't have.

        As Metu69salemi suggested, the best way to do this on one machine is to run pfSense virtualised along with FOG server.

        Steve

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        • _Adrian__
          _Adrian_
          last edited by

          Well, the reason why I'm even thinking about it is because what i go through almost on a monthly basis.
          I got 3 kids that surf the web and bittorenting movies, games and install them on a whim or open them.
          There's a total of 6 machines, running mixed operating systems PLUS the 5 thin clients on the back of the TV serving as media players plus the gaming consoles.

          Second reason why i would like to keep everything to one server is because of rack space…
          I have got a HP 36U rack and its getting full quite quick...
          UPS - 3x SU3000RMXL + 3x SU48R3XLBP BATTERY PACKs = 18U ( 3U each )
          Drive Array - HP MDS600 - 5U
          Main Server - HP c7000 - 10U
          Server 1 / Firewall - HP DL360 G4 - 1U
          Switch RPS - HP ProCurve 620 RPS/EPS PoE - 1U
          Switch 1 - HP ProCurve 3500yl-24G-POE - 1U - Network Switch 1 ( switch 3 resides on the top floor of the house )
          Switch 2 - HP ProCurve 2708 - 0U ( mounted at the back of the rack behind 3500yl )

          As you can see rack is pretty much full, the only other way i see adding another DL360 is to move the RPS into a 0U position on

          If it ain't broken, fix it till it is :P

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          • stephenw10S
            stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
            last edited by

            Quite an advanced home network then!  :)

            Can you not run this on your main server?

            The simple answer is that there isn't anything built in. The closest thing that exists is the tftp server package. I guess you might use that to boot your thin clients. If you need anything more advanced it's time to get coding or post a bounty unfortunately  ;).

            Steve

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            • _Adrian__
              _Adrian_
              last edited by

              I been gathering decent equipment as there is a lot of data moved and streamed across the network so redundancies are in place just in case of hardware failure.
              I own over 700+ DVDs and 300+ BD's so instead keeping inventory everything will stored digitally on the MDS600 available to any "client" on the network.

              Also there is music and pictures are stored on the array.
              I only have ripped about 75 movies in full quality and have 1TB drive full.
              Approximate size occupied by the movies I'm guessing in the 20TB range + LARGE MP3 Collection + Pictures… Current Estimated Size ~30TB

              If it ain't broken, fix it till it is :P

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              • _Adrian__
                _Adrian_
                last edited by

                Here's more info on the card…
                http://www.mellanox.com/content/pages.php?pg=products_dyn&product_family=41&menu_section=41#tab-one

                If it ain't broken, fix it till it is :P

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                • stephenw10S
                  stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                  last edited by

                  From everything I've read, which isn't that much, I think you are going to have a very hard time getting that card running.  :(

                  Steve

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                  • _Adrian__
                    _Adrian_
                    last edited by

                    I will be virtualizing the install of pfSense with VMware workstation 8

                    If it ain't broken, fix it till it is :P

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                    • _Adrian__
                      _Adrian_
                      last edited by

                      @_Adrian_:

                      I will be virtualizing the install of pfSense with VMware workstation 8

                      Meant to say ESXi….
                      Workstation is for Windows

                      If it ain't broken, fix it till it is :P

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                      • marcellocM
                        marcelloc
                        last edited by

                        Do not consider nothing different from esxi or xen. Virtualbox, vmware workstation will not be fine.

                        One last thing you can try is jail under pfSense install using ezjail.

                        It's in my low priority package todo list a gui for ezjail. ;)

                        Treinamentos de Elite: http://sys-squad.com

                        Help a community developer! ;D

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                        • _Adrian__
                          _Adrian_
                          last edited by

                          Installed ESXi 4.1 last night.
                          I can see why so many people migrate over !!
                          So many functions and features to play with LOL Best part though…
                          I don't have to be next to the server to do any of the maintenance :D

                          If it ain't broken, fix it till it is :P

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                          • J
                            joako
                            last edited by

                            You can put clonezilla on /tftpboot in pfSense and then once you PXE boot mount any SMB, NFS, etc network share to store/retrieve disk images. I wouldn't use pfSense as a file server, but I don't see an issue with read-only TFTP for a few static files.

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