Cheap small office build, 6PCs, 40/10 DSL

whosmatt

I think that will be fine for your uses, even with the Realtek NICs. 40/10 isn't really a demanding connection at all, and the rest of the build seems fine as far as CPU/RAM, etc goes.

tirsojrp

Get an APU2C4 kit.

Mithrandir

Consideration for my small build is will network card fit in such a low case, do I need low profile NIC?

@tirsojrp:

Get an APU2C4 kit.

Do you have any recommended shop that can do delivery in Europe (Croatia).
PC engines don't have direct sales in EU.
I've found this:
https://shop.tronico.net/Embedded-Computer/PC-Engines/APU-Mainboards/APU-2C4-system-board.html
So, board is 150Euro, without shipping, and I also need case, power supply and storage, if I understood correctly.

I've also found this:
http://varia-store.com/Hardware/PC-Engines-Bundles/APU-2C4-Bundles/APU2C4-System-Board-1-GHz-4-GB-DDR3-RAM-3x-LAN-Bundle::29101.html?XTCsid=b0hrl02md64v6j786o5710dk00
It's 180 Euro + shipping it's about 200Euro, which is same as my custom build, it maybe has less raw CPU power, but has Intel NIC's.

Now you've given me head to scratch-go for custom build or APU2C4 kit :)

Tnx for the recommendation!

gcu_greyarea

There should be some cheap C2000 based systems in the market soon. Have an eye on ebay.
You might even be able to afford a secondary cold standby system.

messerchmidt

Would go matx j3455, matx case, and add a dual intel lan card. 8gb ram is sufficient.

messerchmidt

Keep an eye out of a cheap zoltac CI325 if you want cheap. Add ram and a 120gb ssd.

Mithrandir

I've actually ordered APU2C4 bundle. I'll post my impressions when it comes :)

messerchmidt

@Mithrandir:

I've actually ordered APU2C4 bundle. I'll post my impressions when it comes :)

not enough ram and that amd apu is obsolete. ok if you do not run squid+squidguard i guess

whosmatt

@messerchmidt:

not enough ram and that amd apu is obsolete. ok if you do not run squid+squidguard i guess

For a 40/10 DSL connection? It'll be more than enough. I run a 45/5 VDSL connection on a tiny VM on a tiny low power ESXI server and have more than enough power for OpenVPN at full speed serving ~30 nodes or so in my home, 3 LAN segments. Even 512MB RAM is enough for that use case. OP specifically stated his use case and it didn't include proxy or IDS. Even if it had, I still think the APU2C4 would be more than enough.

Jailer

@messerchmidt:

not enough ram and that amd apu is obsolete. ok if you do not run squid+squidguard i guess

4GB of RAM is more than enough. I run Snort and pfBlockerNG with my APU2C4 and memory usage is normally around 12% to 20%.

whosmatt

@Jailer:

4GB of RAM is more than enough. I run Snort and pfBlockerNG with my APU2C4 and memory usage is normally around 12% to 20%.

Again and again I find myself baffled by why people think they need so much RAM to run pfSense. Thanks for the real-world example.

messerchmidt

squid+squidguard , with that many users, will need more then 4gb

the cpu will bottleneck clamav

my core2 e6420 @ 3.2ghz with 4gb ddr2 is enough for me alone on 250/20 cable, but has issues when heavy load as per snort and clamav in squid on large transfers

got a s1366 with a 6 core xeon and 12gb ddr3 that will become my pfsense box

Mithrandir

Till last month I was running monowall on Pentium ii 300Mhz with 384MB RAM. I won't run squid here, just OpenVPN which will be used rarely.

I think APU2C4 is overkill for my needs, but I like form factor and consumption.
It should also be future proofed if higher speeds become available in my area.

pfBasic

@whosmatt:

@Jailer:

4GB of RAM is more than enough. I run Snort and pfBlockerNG with my APU2C4 and memory usage is normally around 12% to 20%.

Again and again I find myself baffled by why people think they need so much RAM to run pfSense. Thanks for the real-world example.

It depends on what you're doing with it.

My system pretty much always has 50-60% of 8GB in use.

Jailer

@pfBasic:

It depends on what you're doing with it.

My system pretty much always has 50-60% of 8GB in use.

I agree 100%. I only offered my example of what could be expected on a slow connection with a couple of packages running. YMMV definitely applies here.

whosmatt

@pfBasic:

It depends on what you're doing with it.

My system pretty much always has 50-60% of 8GB in use.

Agreed. I was just responding specifically to the OP's specific use case and the apparent knee-jerk reaction regarding the hardware (and specifically the RAM) required. Obviously you can use a fair amount of RAM. But that doesn't mean you need it to run a pfSense firewall. The packages will soak it up, no doubt. But those are optional.

Guest

In total ~200 Euro incl. VAT.

APU2C4 bundle with 16 Gb or 32 GB might be coming also on 200 Euro - 220 Euro here in Germany
and the Varia store is selling and shipping world wide!