Hardware questions, help me choose.

eviljin

Been hearing many good things about pfSense, thank you for those who's making this all possible for the rest of us.

I was able to put together 2 different setups from old parts, not sure which one to use. My connections is 50/25 with about 20 devices. The goal is build something with enough juice to run squid, squidguard, havp, and snort with lowest power consumption as possible.

Setup 1:
Intel D2700DC (Atom D2700), 4GB, onboard Intel Gb NIC. Not sure if the CPU is up for the job, the biggest problem with this bloody board is no PCIe for NIC. I have a dual Intel Pro 1000 MT PCI-X, which I can use with the PCI slot on this board and just run it at PCI speed, will this affects the internet connection in term of speed?

Setup 2:
MSI 785GM-P45, Athlon X2 250, 4GB, onboard Atheros AR8131 NIC, and dual Intel 1000 PT.

As for hard drive, SSD or platter?

Sorry if too many questions.

canoodle

i consider this:

Intel BLKD2500CCE Mainboard Sockel BGA (mini-ITX, Intel NM10, DDR3 Speicher, 2x SATA, DVI, VGA, 7x USB 2.0)

Mini-ITX-Mainboard, Intel Atom D2500 Intel NM10 Express Chipsatz Intel GMA 3600 Grafikchip, Dual-Gigabit-LAN HD-Sound, 2x DDR3-RAM (SO), 2x SATA 3Gb/s 1x Mini-PCIe, 1x PCI

http://www.amazon.de/Intel-BLKD2500CCE-Mainboard-mini-ITX-Speicher/dp/B007NE5XEO/ref=sr_1_3?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1399271662&sr=1-3&keywords=itx

Long Life Board

Ideal for pfSense Applications

Dual Intel Gbe LAN Ports

VGA and DVI Video Outputs

3 Year Intel Direct Warranty

http://www.amazon.com/Intel-D2500CCE-Mini-ITX-Motherboard-BLKD2500CCE/dp/B007MS9OI2

stephenw10

@eviljin:

I have a dual Intel Pro 1000 MT PCI-X, which I can use with the PCI slot on this board and just run it at PCI speed, will this affects the internet connection in term of speed?

Nope. A 32bit 33MHz PCI slot can pass 1.3Gbps so it's not going to slow your 50Mbps connection at all.

If you want to run all those packages (all the most resource hungry!) I would go for something more than an Atom. At 50Mbps you may get away with a D2700 even with Snort and Squid but you may not and then it's too late. ::)
Do you have any hardware already?

Steve

Edit: typos

adamthepolak

@stephenw10:

@eviljin:

I have a dual Intel Pro 1000 MT PCI-X, which I can use with the PCI slot on this board and just run it at PCI speed, will this affects the internet connection in term of speed?

Nope. A 32bit 33MHz PCI slot can pass 1.3Gbps so it's not going to slow your 50Mbps connection at all.

IF you ant to run all those packages (all the most resource hungry!) I would go for something more than an Atom. At 50Mbps you may get away with a D2700 even with Snort and Squid but you may not and then it's too late. ::)
Do you have any hardware already?

Steve

I agree with steve, if you want to run all those packages "squid, squidguard, havp, and snort " then ull need some more horsepower. Im fairly new to PFsense as well but built a new rig for a small business and after playing with the extra packages 4 gbs of ram just wont do. I read earlier this week but cant remember the exact post which said 6 gigs is the sweet spot if you're running squid, squidguard and snort. add havp to it and ull need the full 8. With the 4 gbs i had running i tried running all 4 and omg was there a slow down. Until I grab another 4 gigs to make it 8 total ill be running just squid and snort. I could add squidguard but there was a noticeable slow down.

I went with a Intel Pentium G3220, 4 gigs of ram, 2 Intel NICs and a WD Black drive for caching.

eviljin

Sorry I haven't follow up with the forum, thanks everyone for your reply.

I've been running with the above hardware (Atom setup) since April with squid/squidguard (didn't play around with snort or havp yet)… Been rock solid, loves it so far.

Thanks again.

foresthus

Hi there,

try this hardware: http://minipc.de/catalog/il/1391
That is what I am using at the moment.

You can also take something like this:
http://www.ebay.de/itm/221638668311?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1558.l2649

cu.

stephenw10

@eviljin:

I've been running with the above hardware (Atom setup) since April with squid/squidguard…

Any idea on CPU or RAM usage with those packages? People are always asking and real world number s always help. :)

Steve