Small Business Router
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Built in wifi seems to usually be a headache and somewhat slow.
(Not that I've ever used it.)I'd vote to use an AP. (Make sure it doesn't have AP isolation on)
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Spence,
Here is my 2 cents on a build, it should cover current requirements and any future upgrades. They are not new but very doable. Can be got for well under $700. Love ebay.
1) SUPERMICRO 2 x L5320 Xeon QC 1.86GHz 8GB RAM 160GB HDD Server Half Depth Link - http://www.ebay.com/itm/SUPERMICRO-2-x-L5320-Xeon-QC-1-86GHz-8GB-RAM-160GB-HDD-Server-Half-Depth-/321196562724?pt=COMP_EN_Servers&hash=item4ac8ce9924
2) The CPUs should be more than enough for your bandwith needs. Link for the CPUs http://ark.intel.com/products/29767/Intel-Xeon-Processor-L5320-8M-Cache-1_86-GHz-1066-MHz-FSB
3) The system comes with enough RAM 8GB.
4) HD is sata 160GB 7200rpm. If more storage, speed or even raid is needed. The system-board supports raid and two of these should do the trick for redundancy and speed. http://www.ebay.com/itm/300GB-VelociRaptor-10000RPM-16MB-SATA3Gb-s-3-5-Hard-Drive-w-WD-IcePack-Heatsink-/130807300801?pt=US_Internal_Hard_Disk_Drives&hash=item1e74b902c1
If raid is not needed, then one should suffice if additional speed and storage is required.
5) The system-board has Intel
(ESB2/Gilgal) 82563EB Dual-Port Gigabit Ethernet Controller onboard. Adding additional NICs should not be a problem on the board due to it's versatile expansion slots.Link for risers - http://www.supermicro.com.tw/support/resources/Riser/riser.aspx
For additional NICs, primarily Intel server NICs is recommended.
Intel PRO/1000 MT C32199-004 Quad Port PCI-X Server Network Adapter Card. Link - http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-PRO-1000-MT-C32199-004-Quad-Port-PCI-X-Server-Network-Adapter-Card-/151109525877?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item232ed46175
Intel Pro/1000 PT Quad Port PCI-e Server Adapter EXP19404 (N720612) http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Pro-1000-PT-Quad-Port-PCI-e-Server-Adapter-EXP19404-N720612-/290964354740?pt=US_Internal_Network_Cards&hash=item43bed3b6b4
6) For wifi, if the business is small, I would get a unmanaged POE iEEE 802.3af switch and these APs
AP link - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833425013
Unmanaged POE switch Allied Telesis AT-FS708/POE 8-Port POE Swtich link - http://www.ebay.com/itm/Allied-Telesis-AT-FS708-POE-8-Port-POE-Swtich-/251241654958?pt=US_Network_Switches&hash=item3a7f2b6aae OR
HP ProCurve Networking Switch 2600 PWR J8762A, link - http://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-ProCurve-Networking-Switch-2600-PWR-J8762A-10-100-1000-T-Mini-GBIC-/121162662331?pt=US_Network_Switches&hash=item1c35db81bb note: this one is managed by web gui.
7) Link for the system-board - http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/xeon1333/5000v/x7dvl-e.cfm
You can move everything to another case if, the case gets to hot. Purchase a mid-tower ATX case, link - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112099, power supply - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151119 and heatsinks - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835114056.
You will stay under your $700 even after purchasing the new case, power supply and heatsinks. and have a very powerful system.
As for the wifi, I do not have enough info on the layout of the office space, to either go the way of purchasing APs and POE switch OR the way of PCI-E adaptor. I believe having the AP(s) and POE switch, would give you more options on placement and not have to worry about proper firmware/patching the pfsense. The APs support multiple SSIDs and Vlan tagging.
Hope this did not bore you and good luck. ;D
You didnt bore me at all, this is a really nice setup, I will have to take it into consideration for sure. Yea those dual quad xeon's would really be nice to have. Ill have to think long and hard about this.
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First, I would like to introduce myself to everyone considering I'm brand new here. My name's spence and I work at a small business in which I double as the IT guy. I have to say I love pfsense in every aspect because of what it can offer for the price that my small business can afford compared to other commercial grade firewalls/routers.
If it is a small business, I suggest this build:
http://www.supermicro.com/products/system/1u/5015/sys-5015a-ehf-d525.cfm
You can either buy it pre-built or by parts. SuperMicro is entry-line server hardware, seems more stable and reliable than Asus. Asus is hit or miss and targeted for the consumer market. You'll be able to push 600mbps+ through this system, and easily run several heavy processes on the machine too.
It should meet the needs of most small business networks for ~400.00 once you add the 8GB RAM + Hard Drive.
SuperMicro has newer Atom mini-servers too, or i3/i5 if you want overkill system.
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I think you may be over estimating the capabilities of that Atom based board.
It may be able to push 600Mbps but that will be it's limit and that without running any packages, firewall/NAT only.The OP in this thread said:
@Sp4tan01:I am planning on running packages such as squid, squidgaurd, snort, openvpn and so on. Basically I also want the capability to run whatever packages I will want or need, hence the beefy processor.
I don't really think the Atom satisfies those requirements. ;)
However maybe you have some experiences that show I'm wrong. Are you running an Atom? Packages?
Steve
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Different people have varying ideas of "Beefy" apparently…
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Different people have varying ideas of "Beefy" apparently…
Someone hinting about my beefy box ?? 8)
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I can't find a suitable emoticon… :P
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Hello to all and I apologize in advance if anyone considers this hijacking the original ops thread… I am new here and been reading for hrs about hardware advice when I saw this thread. After seeing the link that Keasley provided I found this on ebay from the same seller: http://www.ebay.com/itm/SUPERMICRO-2x-L5420-Xeon-QC-2-5GHz-8GB-250GB-1U-Half-Depth-Server-Ca/310747413210?_trksid=p2047675.m1850&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D17905%26meid%3D1477410650965443319%26pid%3D100011%26prg%3D8262%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D5%26sd%3D321196562724%26
This is sooo much more powerful than the micro systems I was looking into and ironically its even cheaper so I am just wondering if this unit would also be a good build? By the way my scenario is different than Sp4tan01 since I am just doing a system for my home and looking for good traffic shaping by mac or port, Squid and HAVP... only one other thing would kill this for me and thats if its a loud box... I have a Cisco 2960G switch which doesn't phase me but I don't want to get crazy :)
Thanks in advance
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"SUPERMICRO" is a brand, not a description of its size or its components.
If you value performance over low power consumption, a SUPERMICRO system or some other fast system might be the way to go.
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That box has two 50W TDP processors in a 1U enclosure, it's going to be loud. ;)
Potentially way too loud though it has thermal fan speed control so if you are only using it for light duties it will be quieter.
Also it's far more powerful than you need for a home box. Unless you've got a crazy speed home connection. :)Steve
