Hardware suggestions

stephenw10

That seems closer to what I'd expect. ;)

Is is just the VPN speed you're looking for?
The FW-7551 and its successor are a lot less than $1000.
http://store.pfsense.org/SG2440/

Steve

Edit: Rogue apostrophe

maturola

@bhawk6901:

How much will an i3/i5 setup cost approx?

your budget is fine, I would go this rout >>

Get you something like this mobo

SUPERMICRO MBD-X10SLM-F-O

With an i3 or even a Xeon (E3-1220V3)

and you will have nothing to worry about for 3 to 5 years.

(Those 2 + Memories, rackmount case, Supply should get you right around your budget)

bhawk6901

@maturola:

@bhawk6901:

How much will an i3/i5 setup cost approx?

your budget is fine, I would go this rout >>

Get you something like this mobo

SUPERMICRO MBD-X10SLM-F-O

With an i3 or even a Xeon (E3-1220V3)

and you will have nothing to worry about for 3 to 5 years.

(Those 2 + Memories, rackmount case, Supply should get you right around your budget)

Thanks for the suggestions :)
Will try to go with xeon budget permitting
Main issue currently is finding a mini itx board having 4 NICs that can fit in the soekris casing or something similar of the size (have to say its beautiful :P)

maturola

@bhawk6901:

Thanks for the suggestions :)
Will try to go with xeon budget permitting
Main issue currently is finding a mini itx board having 4 NICs that can fit in the soekris casing or something similar of the size (have to say its beautiful :P)

SUPERMICRO MBD-A1SRi-2758F-O is mini ITX with Quad Intel Ethernet, this one have a 8-Core Atom (C2758). Not sure if it will fix the case you refer to.

You can also find it with an i7 (SUPERMICRO MBD-X9SPV-M4-3UE-O)

Or you can add a Quad Intel Nic on PCIe slot to any of the mini ITX LGA1150 boards.

messerchmidt

@maturola:

@bhawk6901:

Thanks for the suggestions :)
Will try to go with xeon budget permitting
Main issue currently is finding a mini itx board having 4 NICs that can fit in the soekris casing or something similar of the size (have to say its beautiful :P)

SUPERMICRO MBD-A1SRi-2758F-O is mini ITX with Quad Intel Ethernet, this one have a 8-Core Atom (C2758). Not sure if it will fix the case you refer to.

You can also find it with an i7 (SUPERMICRO MBD-X9SPV-M4-3UE-O)

Or you can add a Quad Intel Nic on PCIe slot to any of the mini ITX LGA1150 boards.

if your total budget is 1000$, that is going to be difficult for 8 offices. if about 1000$ per office, than go with the above setup to be problem free. use ecc ram

maturola

@messerchmidt:

@maturola:

@bhawk6901:

Thanks for the suggestions :)
Will try to go with xeon budget permitting
Main issue currently is finding a mini itx board having 4 NICs that can fit in the soekris casing or something similar of the size (have to say its beautiful :P)

SUPERMICRO MBD-A1SRi-2758F-O is mini ITX with Quad Intel Ethernet, this one have a 8-Core Atom (C2758). Not sure if it will fix the case you refer to.

You can also find it with an i7 (SUPERMICRO MBD-X9SPV-M4-3UE-O)

Or you can add a Quad Intel Nic on PCIe slot to any of the mini ITX LGA1150 boards.

if your total budget is 1000$, that is going to be difficult for 8 offices. if about 1000$ per office, than go with the above setup to be problem free. use ecc ram

Oh, maybe I misunderstood the OP, I thought the 1K budget was for the VPN server / File server host, not all the 8 offices. I thought the offices will be clients. 1K over those 8 offices would be $125 per office…? no way you will find anything for $125

bhawk6901

@messerchmidt:

@maturola:

@bhawk6901:

Thanks for the suggestions :)
Will try to go with xeon budget permitting
Main issue currently is finding a mini itx board having 4 NICs that can fit in the soekris casing or something similar of the size (have to say its beautiful :P)

SUPERMICRO MBD-A1SRi-2758F-O is mini ITX with Quad Intel Ethernet, this one have a 8-Core Atom (C2758). Not sure if it will fix the case you refer to.

You can also find it with an i7 (SUPERMICRO MBD-X9SPV-M4-3UE-O)

Or you can add a Quad Intel Nic on PCIe slot to any of the mini ITX LGA1150 boards.

if your total budget is 1000$, that is going to be difficult for 8 offices. if about 1000$ per office, than go with the above setup to be problem free. use ecc ram

Thanks for the suggestions
That 3rd gen seems very good.
we have 1000$ per office budget.
Last thing is to get a small 1u casing. Any suggestions regarding that will be greatly appreciated

maturola

@bhawk6901:

Thanks for the suggestions
That 3rd gen seems very good.
we have 1000$ per office budget.
Last thing is to get a small 1u casing. Any suggestions regarding that will be greatly appreciated

Check out SUPERMICRO SuperChassis CSE-512L-200B

bhawk6901

@maturola:

@bhawk6901:

Thanks for the suggestions
That 3rd gen seems very good.
we have 1000$ per office budget.
Last thing is to get a small 1u casing. Any suggestions regarding that will be greatly appreciated

Check out SUPERMICRO SuperChassis CSE-512L-200B

Thanks but looking for something smaller like the soekris casings please

maturola

@bhawk6901:

Thanks but looking for something smaller like the soekris casings please

You said 1U… that's 1U

soekris casings re custom, not sure there is anything out there that would fit a ITX formfactor

bhawk6901

http://uk.farnell.com/schroff/20860-120/case-19-inches-1u-220mm-steel/dp/1455923
this is one that i found not sure if it would fit properly though
Secondly. would 4 GB ram suffice? And what brand should i go for

foetus

Supermicro has low depth cases for mini itx bundled with PSU's.

So if you are going that route I would not use a CSE-512L-200B a suggested above, but a CSE-503L-200B : http://www.supermicro.com/products/chassis/1U/503/SC503L-200.cfm
Remember you need a fan assembly, and HDD cage if you are not going to hotglue everything :). These things are also not super quiet. Especially if you use the official fan.

It has the depth of general non enterprise switches. And is 1U. I use them even in small 6U mini racks without issue.
I have no idea why you would want to use custom steel cases? The time you need to cut ports in them alone, if you factor in time/cost is ridiculous.
Akasa will some day have very nice passive cases. If they ever release them : http://www.akasa.com.tw/update.php?tpl=product/product.detail.tpl&no=181&type=Fanless%20Chassis&type_sub=Fanless%20Mini%20ITX&model=A-ITX17-M1B

Supermicro RMA support is twitchy. So prepare to stock 1 extra 'in case'. Seeing your budget, you should have enough left to buy a 9th setup as a spare.
An A1SRi 2758 / 8GB ECC / SSD / case should be well within 1k.

Of course, for your speed requirements. I see no reason why not go the official store route - and support your favorite Firewall Appliance?
http://store.pfsense.org/SG4860/

Has everything you could ever want. Smaller form factor if for some reason you want that. Lower power use, passive. 6 ports.
And currently will already do several hundred Mbps VPN tunnels with improvements on the way.

mir

You will get more bang for the bug buying this one: http://www.xcase.co.uk/1u-rackmount-server-cases/x-case-itx-19-02-1u-rackmount-short-29-95-x-case.html

bhawk6901

@foetus:

Supermicro has low depth cases for mini itx bundled with PSU's.

So if you are going that route I would not use a CSE-512L-200B a suggested above, but a CSE-503L-200B : http://www.supermicro.com/products/chassis/1U/503/SC503L-200.cfm
Remember you need a fan assembly, and HDD cage if you are not going to hotglue everything :). These things are also not super quiet. Especially if you use the official fan.

It has the depth of general non enterprise switches. And is 1U. I use them even in small 6U mini racks without issue.
I have no idea why you would want to use custom steel cases? The time you need to cut ports in them alone, if you factor in time/cost is ridiculous.
Akasa will some day have very nice passive cases. If they ever release them : http://www.akasa.com.tw/update.php?tpl=product/product.detail.tpl&no=181&type=Fanless%20Chassis&type_sub=Fanless%20Mini%20ITX&model=A-ITX17-M1B

Supermicro RMA support is twitchy. So prepare to stock 1 extra 'in case'. Seeing your budget, you should have enough left to buy a 9th setup as a spare.
An A1SRi 2758 / 8GB ECC / SSD / case should be well within 1k.

Of course, for your speed requirements. I see no reason why not go the official store route - and support your favorite Firewall Appliance?
http://store.pfsense.org/SG4860/

Has everything you could ever want. Smaller form factor if for some reason you want that. Lower power use, passive. 6 ports.
And currently will already do several hundred Mbps VPN tunnels with improvements on the way.

Thanks a lot for your detailed reply
I guess il go for 503L in the end :)
ECC RAM is the only thing left i think so any suggestions fir that?

foetus

made an error ! enclosure is 505-203b : http://www.supermicro.com/products/chassis/1U/505/SC505-203.cfm
front panel layout is totally different (and wrong..) with a 503.

I often just use Kingston 1.35v ECC non buffered without any errors. But if you want to be sure 100% Supermicro has a supported memory list at the spec page of the motherbord.

bhawk6901

@maturola:

@bhawk6901:

Thanks for the suggestions :)
Will try to go with xeon budget permitting
Main issue currently is finding a mini itx board having 4 NICs that can fit in the soekris casing or something similar of the size (have to say its beautiful :P)

SUPERMICRO MBD-A1SRi-2758F-O is mini ITX with Quad Intel Ethernet, this one have a 8-Core Atom (C2758). Not sure if it will fix the case you refer to.

You can also find it with an i7 (SUPERMICRO MBD-X9SPV-M4-3UE-O)

Or you can add a Quad Intel Nic on PCIe slot to any of the mini ITX LGA1150 boards.

Can anyone please confirm if (SUPERMICRO MBD-X9SPV-M4-3UE-O runs freebsd? Checked the os compatibility chart on supermicro site but cant seem to find freebsd for this specific model

edwardwong

@bhawk6901:

http://uk.farnell.com/schroff/20860-120/case-19-inches-1u-220mm-steel/dp/1455923
this is one that i found not sure if it would fit properly though
Secondly. would 4 GB ram suffice? And what brand should i go for

4GB ram would be more than enough if you don't need anything other than VPN.

Derelict

With an $8000 budget I'd get 1 (or 2) C2758s from pfSense or Netgate for the central site and RCC-VE 2440s for the satellites. $4,443 (with 2 C2758s in HA) from Netgate, - half your budget - and it'll scream and will all have QuickAssist and AES-NI for future versions. Plenty of budget to add things like 30GB mSATAs to the satellite routers, upgrade switches, etc.

bhawk6901

@Derelict:

With an $8000 budget I'd get 1 (or 2) C2758s from pfSense or Netgate for the central site and RCC-VE 2440s for the satellites. $4,443 (with 2 C2758s in HA) from Netgate, - half your budget - and it'll scream and will all have QuickAssist and AES-NI for future versions. Plenty of budget to add things like 30GB mSATAs to the satellite routers, upgrade switches, etc.

Cant see how a 2758 would be better than i7 3517 :-\

Derelict

Cant see how a 2758 would be better than i7 3517 :-\

No QuickAssist in the 3517 for one. Tested and supported for precisely your stated purpose.