First pfSense build, need advice

braincrasher

Hello pfSense Forum,

I figured General Questions would be the beginners place to ask a question, although if this thread needs to go under Hardware I apologize!

I've discovered pfSense few days ago, on YouTube.

I want to give the OS a try and I have doubts of what is the best way to go.

I have few buying options:

745 is normal size case, 755 are in small form factor case, haven't contacted the sellers yet. Also I'm just assuming the parts listed on the official DELL site is what is inside these babies.

Order by price, descending:

DELL Latitude D420 (laptop) - 60 USD / 57 EURO
I'm expecting the seller to have no idea of the configuration, so I'll try to get that information somehow…
DELL Optiplex 755 - 60 USD / 57 EURO
- Intel Pentium Dual CPU e2180 @ 2.0 ghz
- RAM: 3GB DDR2
- Hard Disk: 80gb
DELL Optiplex 745 - 60 USD / 57 EURO
- Intel Core2duo 1.80 GHz
- RAM : 4GB
- HDD: 70 GB
DELL Optiplex 755 - 26 USD / 25 EURO
- Intel Core2duo 2.0 GHz
- RAM: NO
- HDD: NO

I like the laptop idea, will it work?

I'm guessing I won't have any noticeable, if at all differences between the 2 Optiplex.

The pfSense will be a testing platform, to expand my knowledge in networking, routers and firewall when I have free time. In the best case scenario I want to have 3 of these:

at my office, 6 constant LAN connections, as well as WiFi access (Windows RDP, Team Viewer, Skype calls) - Software developers
at home, only WiFi
another place I call home, 2 LAN + if possible 802.11 a/c WiFi

Thank you very much to anyone that will try to help!

![DELL-Optiplex-755 3.jpg_thumb](/public/imported_attachments/1/DELL-Optiplex-755 3.jpg_thumb)
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KOM

I'm sure they'll all be OK for test purposes. A full-on desktop PC is usually overkill for a firewall/router, and most laptops don't have dual NICs. Go for the one that uses the lowest power usage. Go for the one that has the smallest form factor. Buy an Intel dual-NIC card and use that instead of the built-in (most likely) Realtek crap NICs.

braincrasher

Thanks for replying!

Turns out my sale findings weren't that reliable so I'm left with finding another Optiplex or similar.

I will definitely go with a SFF when I find it.

I've already ordered a INTEL PRO/1000 MT Dual Port Server Adapter 82546 8492MT from eBay.