Netgate Discussion Forum
    • Categories
    • Recent
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Users
    • Search
    • Register
    • Login

    Will this hardware run pfSense and support 300 Mbps with IDS/IPS, DNS over TLS and pbBlockerNG

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved
    Hardware
    2
    8
    867
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • I
      imthenachoman
      last edited by

      I have been SA for years but I have never dug into network security (never needed to) and I am new to pfSense. Please go easy on me.

      I have been wanting to implement a whole house FW to protect my server and everything else at home. I was going to buy Netgate's SG-3100 but I have a spare desktop PC lying around that I thought I could put pfSense on.

      Before I do, I wanted to make sure it can handle my use-case, specifically maintaining 300+ Mbps. My internet is 200/35 but I might upgrade it soon. I'd actually love to know the max throughput this setup should be able to handle.

      • Motherboard: Intel Desktop Board DG33BU
      • CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E7500 @ 2.93 Ghz
      • Memory: 8 GB DDR2 SDRAM 800 MHz DIMMs
      • HD: 640 GB
      • Video: EVGA GeForce 210 Passive 1024 MB DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 DVI/HDMI/VGA Graphics Card
      • Chipset: Intel G33 Express Chipset, consisting of:
        • Intel 82G33 Graphics and Memory Controller Hub (GMCH)
        • Intel 82801IH I/O Controller Hub (ICH9DH)
      • LAN Card: Gigabit LAN subsystem using the Intel 82566DC Gigabit Ethernet Controller

      I would, of course, buy one more LAN card so I have one for my cable modem input and one for my existing router output. Not sure which LAN card to get so if there is any advice/recommendation on that please let me know. Or, if the onboard LAN card is no good, I can get two since the MB has 2 conventional PCI slots and 1 PCI Express x1 slot.

      At minimum these are the things I know I'll be configuring:

      • IDS/IPS with Snort or Suricata (haven't yet figured out which is better) (https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/ids-ips/index.html)
      • DNS over TLS (https://www.netgate.com/blog/dns-over-tls-with-pfsense.html)
      • pbBlockerNG

      So, two questions I am hoping the community can help me with:

      1. Is my hardware powerful enough to do what I want?
      2. Are there other packages/configurations folks recommend/advise?

      Thanks in advance!

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • I
        imthenachoman
        last edited by

        The current CPU doesn't support AES-NI though. :(

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • stephenw10S
          stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
          last edited by

          pfSense 2.5 will not require AES-NI in case you missed it: https://forum.netgate.com/post/823904

          That hardware will be fine for your 200Mbps connection. It will pass 1Gps but possibly not with Snort/Suricata, it depends at lot on what ruleset you have loaded and how it is tuned.

          You have it already, try it and see. It will be good experience either way. I would pull that graphics card in favour of the on-board graphics to free resources and reduced heat in the box

          Steve

          I 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • I
            imthenachoman @stephenw10
            last edited by

            @stephenw10 Thanks. To test it I would need one more LAN card. I want to avoid buying things I don't need. I'm caught between using this desktop, buying an SG-3100, or holding out for Ubiquiti's Dream Machine (https://www.reddit.com/r/Ubiquiti/comments/b0s5ig/unifi_dream_machine_added_to_earlyaccess_store/).

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • stephenw10S
              stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
              last edited by

              Well you could test the throughput with just the two cards you have. Add a third interface once you know it will handle that.

              Steve

              I 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • I
                imthenachoman @stephenw10
                last edited by

                @stephenw10 Two cards? I only have one ethernet port right now. I have a wifi adapter I can plug into it just to see what the pfSense experience is like and to see if its too complex/confusing for me. Thanks!

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • stephenw10S
                  stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                  last edited by

                  Ah, sorry I thought that board has integrated Ethernet and you had a card in there also. I assume those are same thing then.

                  Using wifi is not going to help your experience! Especially if that's not as an optional interface. Better to use VLANs and a managed switch or even a USB NIC (which also isn't recommended). But Gigabit Intel NICs are common and cheap grabbing one of those would be best.

                  Steve

                  I 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • I
                    imthenachoman @stephenw10
                    last edited by

                    @stephenw10 Agreed. Plan is to install pfSense just to get a feel for the OS/experience. My networking knowledge is not great so if I can't figure it out then I want to know before I buy a new LAN card. I've seen some videos online with screenshots and those screenshots had many terms I don't know so I'm a little worried. Just created the USB installer so I'll see how it goes.

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • First post
                      Last post
                    Copyright 2025 Rubicon Communications LLC (Netgate). All rights reserved.