Dell Optiplex 3010 running pfSense?
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Greetings!
it looks as though I've outgrown my ASA-5505 now that I've increased my Fios home connection speed to 150 Mbps Up/Down. So, now I'm back to using the Verizon Fios wireless router :( and I'm really wanting to start using pfSense and learning all about it.
…which brings me to my question.
I am thinking of re-purposing my current desktop PC into a pfSense firewall for my home network which has Fios 150/150 Mbps.
Would the following system be a good candidate for running a standalone instance of pfSense, including running apps (squid, snort, Open VPN, etc.)?
Here are the specs:
| OptiPlex 3010 Small Form Facto r Standard PSU
3rd Gen Intel Core i3-3220 Pro cessor (Dual Core, 3.30GHz, 3M B, w/ HD2500 Graphics)
x2 4GB (8 GB Total), NON-ECC, 1600MHZ DDR3,1DI MM,OPTI
HARD DRIVE, 500GB, S3, 7.2K, WESTERN DIGITAL, XL500A
OptiPlex 3010 Small Form Factor Standard Power Supply, 250W
|I was originally trying to decide whether go with an Atom C2x58, Xeon D-15x8, Xeon E3-12xx, or an Intel i5 6500 build, but after days of reading through countless posts and reviews here, and at STH, I started wondering if the Optiplex i3 3220 that I already own could be a good candidate. If so, I can put the money into building a nice desktop PC for myself, instead :)
I would prefer to not have to spend as much as $500-600 on a home firewall, but at the same time, I want it to be able to handle everything I need with my current connection (as well as some future growth) and apps I plan to be running, and need to make sure that it's 100% compatible with pfSense, has AES-NI, quite, low-power, and I would need to add an Intel Quad PCI-e network card for WAN/LAN/DMZ connections. Since this is Small Form Factor, I guess I would need something low-profile.
Is this exactly what I need or should I still be looking at solution such as the ones listed above?
Any advice you all could give me would be greatly appreciated. I tried to give as much info as possible, but let me know if you need some more details.
Thanks very much!
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try to see if it boots (without buying the nic).
the get an intel quadport nic like
- https://store.pfsense.org/AOC-SGP-I4/
- http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ethernet-products/gigabit-server-adapters/ethernet-server-adapter-i350.html
or anything else with a supported intel chipset
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Do you have an available PCIe x16 slot? If so, just grab something like this: https://www.amazon.com/HP-NC364T-Gigabit-Server-Adptr/dp/B000P0NX3G.
You don't need the x16, but you do need a slot capable of housing an x4 card, which the x16 will. Otherwise you (probably) only have x1 slots and there's a dearth of server NICs available for those.
Oh, and to answer the rest of your question, yes, that hardware will be quite suitable for pfSense and your FIOS connection.