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    NanoBSD 4gb | installed on8 GB SD card | Showing 2 GB ?

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved General pfSense Questions
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    • ?
      Guest
      last edited by

      On the nano you always have two identical slices (4gb nano: 2x 1.8 GB), the rest of the memory is the "overarching" partition, where the config.xml resides [Steve, please correct me if I'm wrong again…], one slice is actually used, the other is backup, you can copy the functional installation (incl. installed packages etc.) to the other slice, switch boot slice (in the GUI or on boot, from console)…

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      • stephenw10S
        stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
        last edited by

        Exactly. On your 8GB card with the 4GB Nano image loaded on it you have three slices (partitions). A running system slice, a backup system slice and a 50MB config slice that holds the config.xml file among other things. Each system slice is indeed around 1.8GB. That leaves 4GB of unpartitioned space on the drive that you could potentially use for something.

        However you should not be using that space as a proxy cache. Flash drives are simply not designed for continuous writes. Using it as a cache will burn through the limited write cycles in short order leaving you with a dead SD card. If you want to run Squid with caching then use a full install to a real HD or an SSD with proper ware leveling.

        I'll also point out that there are almost no advantages to running a caching web proxy for most soho networks in terms of speed or bandwidth use. Most people running Squid are doing so in order to use it with Squidguard for web filtering which does not require caching.

        Steve

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        • N
          neobauer
          last edited by

          Thanks for all those details :) Then I'll better go for mSSD in the future and be able to use full functionnality :)

          A very interesting comment from Steve:
          @stephenw10:

          I'll also point out that there are almost no advantages to running a caching web proxy for most soho networks in terms of speed or bandwidth use
          Steve

          Please could you explain me further what you mean ? I though that a caching web proxy is always  a benefit in terms of speed or bandwidth.
          Or when / start when is it necessary to implement it ?

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          • stephenw10S
            stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
            last edited by

            If you test it you'll find almost no improvement in general browsing. Some people report it's actually slower. Caching becomes useful when you have a large number of clients on the network and more so if they are frequently using the same pages. If yolu can persuade Squid to cache things like Windows updates or anti-virus definitions then that can help a lot. The problem is that the modern web is very dynamic and is often served from content distribution networks and that is hard or impossible to cache.
            Of course it depends on what your network is and how you are using the web but don't expect to see a big increase in browsing speed or a reduction in used bandwidth. There are a number of threads here with people reporting similarly disappointing results.  :-\

            Steve

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            • N
              neobauer
              last edited by

              Oh ok I understand it much more better now.
              So for a location like a hotel, the implementation of cache will not be benefit as customers are changing every day (just as a good example).
              Does it make sense to implement an Antivirus on the Firewall ?

              Regarding to the discussion about the swap from SD installation (nanoBSD) to Full Install on HDD oder SSD.
              Can I use the backup file of the configuration under the nanoBSD installation to restore all my settings on the full installation on the SDD disk ? or do I need to start from scratch ?

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              • K
                kejianshi
                last edited by

                SOHO - Home / office has few users, so squid cache doesn't help much.

                Depending on the size of the hotel and the occupancy rate, one would think that a fast squid cache on a fast drive would help.

                The fact the the customers are daily changing doesn't matter.  Its the number of users online at one time that matters.

                So, squid is a good use for hotel - better than home anyway.

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                • N
                  neobauer
                  last edited by

                  OKay Thanks to point this out. I will consider all those options, test live and see the performace.

                  Regarding to the discussion about the swap from SD installation (nanoBSD) to Full Install on HDD oder SSD.
                  Can I use the backup file of the configuration under the nanoBSD installation to restore all my settings on the full installation on the SDD disk ? or do I need to start from scratch ?

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                  • K
                    kejianshi
                    last edited by

                    I don't know.  However, its super easy to re-install pfsense so try it.  See if it works.
                    If it does, fine.

                    If not, start from scratch.

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                    • N
                      neobauer
                      last edited by

                      easy YES but time consuming and that's the main issue I have.

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                      • stephenw10S
                        stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                        last edited by

                        The config file is the same, you can restore it to a full install.
                        If you switch architecture, 32 to 64 bit, the chech the system update url afterwards.

                        Steve

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                        • N
                          neobauer
                          last edited by

                          Thanks Steeve.

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