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    What do you guys think of this hardware?

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    • P
      pfBasic Banned
      last edited by

      You won't get full gigabit openvpn with anything that I'm aware of right now.

      With a high clock i3 (i3-7350k) you will probably get in the 6-700Mbps range openvpn.

      Suricata is pretty  tough to predict as it depends on not only how many rules and how much traffic but also specifically what the rules are inspecting (how they are written).

      Given your budget and stated needs I would base a build on an i3-7350k. Reuse any parts you can. Don't worry about dual Intel Nics on the motherboard unless the price is also right.
      You can get i340-t2 for ~$20 and t4 for ~$40 on ebay.

      Get a good PSU  if you don't have one you can reuse but don't overbudget your power needs and don't pay for anything more than bronze level.

      Use a small SSD,  you don't need a high end one just any old SSD.

      Get used RAM if possible, you'll want dual channel. If you have no intention of using any other packages than what you already stated then 4gb, if you might end up using pfblockerng, then, told, etc then 8gb+ can be used if you really want to.

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      • ?
        Guest
        last edited by

        What would you buy if you had 300usd and 500usd?

        Safe more Money and get a small and silent or fan less SG-4860, this should be more then adequate for your Needs!
        Symetric 1 GBit/s connection w/ SG-4860

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        • P
          pfBasic Banned
          last edited by

          Just ignore blue kobold, he likes to give horrible hardware recommendations.

          A 2.4GHz atom from 2013 is not going to impress anyone with openvpn and or ids/ips performance.

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          • A
            Agshlee
            last edited by

            @pfBasic:

            (…) Don't worry about dual Intel Nics on the motherboard unless the price is also right.
            You can get i340-t2 for ~$20 and t4 for ~$40 on ebay.

            This is actually something I've been wondering about. You see a lot of people using the ASRock H270M-ITX/ac mobo with an i3 because it has dual NICs built in. While it's nice to only need to mobo, shouldn't one be able to get better performance using a dedicated NIC such as the T2/T4 you mentioned, compared to built-in NICs (even if they are Intel)?

            EDIT: I should add that I'm looking into building a system with the same requirements (gigabit connection, using OpenVPN and suricata). I had settled on using the i3 you mentioned but the other parts are still to be determined, so this thread is very interesting to me.

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            • M
              mricecool
              last edited by

              I found this thread: https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=129393.0 talking about the same subject. And a few performance specs from gig net with openvpn. Just for reference.

              I usually go for NC364T Quad-Port nics, but this build I'm going to try out the i340-t2 or i340-t4 to be redundant.

              So this build got a little out of hand regarding price. Im currently looking at this setup. Please review:

              CPU: i3-7350k, 180USD
              Motherboard: Supermicro X11SSL-F Socket lga1151, 255USD
              Case: Supermicro CSE-512L-260B Chassis with 260W power supply and some fans, 111USD
              CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-L9i, 50USD
              Memory: Kingston ValueRAM Server Premier KVR24SE17S8/4MB 4GB, 75USD
              HDD: KingFast F6 32GB 2.5" SATA SATA III MLC SSD, 25USD
              Extra Quad nic: i350-T4, 45USD

              180+255+111+50+75+25+45 = 741 USD

              This will be a future proof router.

              Any thoughts? =)

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              • P
                pfBasic Banned
                last edited by

                Personally I would skip the supermicro stuff on a home router and cut the price in half,  but if you want to spend the cash then goo for it!

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                • M
                  mricecool
                  last edited by

                  @pfBasic:

                  Personally I would skip the supermicro stuff on a home router and cut the price in half,  but if you want to spend the cash then goo for it!

                  I figure that this machine will be on 24/7 and it will be an "investment" to buy server grade hardware to avoid complications in the future?

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                  • ?
                    Guest
                    last edited by

                    I figure that this machine will be on 24/7 and it will be an "investment" to buy server grade hardware to avoid complications in the future?

                    Supermicro C2758 Board  ~500 Euros
                    Supermicro SYS-E300-8D ~800 Euros
                    Supermicro SYS-E200-8D ~900 Euros

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                    • P
                      pfBasic Banned
                      last edited by

                      Again totally personal choice but I think consumer will work fine for many years.

                      My pfsense box was a lease SFF work station that is about 6 years old now and work fine.

                      Many others on here are using much much older consumer grade hardware.

                      Honestly pfsense is probably one of the most gentle applications you could use a computer for.

                      It will almost never cycle power and will spend the majority of it's life at very reasonable temps.

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                      • A
                        Ashmodai6
                        last edited by

                        After a lot of hesitation I ordered today what I think is close to the best bang for the buck

                        Intel Pentium G4560, 2x 3.50 GHz
                        Motherboard Gigabyte GA-B250M-DS3H
                        SSD SanDisk X400 256 Go M.2 SATA 6 Gbit/s
                        8 GB DDR4 2133 CL15 Crucial (2x4GB)
                        Case Inter-Tech GM-6013
                        Intel i350T4
                        Antes psu 350W (I had it already)

                        Total around 375 usd delivered and performance not far from a i3 7350k (around 20% less for around 70% cheaper)
                        I personally don't need more than 100mb for openvpn

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                        • P
                          pfBasic Banned
                          last edited by

                          @Ashmodai6:

                          After a lot of hesitation I ordered today what I think is close to the best bang for the buck

                          Intel Pentium G4560, 2x 3.50 GHz
                          Motherboard Gigabyte GA-B250M-DS3H
                          SSD SanDisk X400 256 Go M.2 SATA 6 Gbit/s
                          8 GB DDR4 2133 CL15 Crucial (2x4GB)
                          Case Inter-Tech GM-6013
                          Intel i350T4
                          Antes psu 350W (I had it already)

                          Total around 375 usd delivered and performance not far from a i3 7350k (around 20% less for around 70% cheaper)
                          I personally don't need more than 100mb for openvpn

                          Solid build, it won't break a sweat @ 100Mbps and will do great with IDS/IPS! Enjoy.

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • M
                            mricecool
                            last edited by

                            @Ashmodai6:

                            After a lot of hesitation I ordered today what I think is close to the best bang for the buck

                            Intel Pentium G4560, 2x 3.50 GHz
                            Motherboard Gigabyte GA-B250M-DS3H
                            SSD SanDisk X400 256 Go M.2 SATA 6 Gbit/s
                            8 GB DDR4 2133 CL15 Crucial (2x4GB)
                            Case Inter-Tech GM-6013
                            Intel i350T4
                            Antes psu 350W (I had it already)

                            Total around 375 usd delivered and performance not far from a i3 7350k (around 20% less for around 70% cheaper)
                            I personally don't need more than 100mb for openvpn

                            That cpu seems like a good option to the i3 7250k.

                            One thing that I noticed in the comparison (https://ark.intel.com/compare/97527,97143) is the ECC memory support. The i3 does not support it, but the G4560 does.

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                            • P
                              pfBasic Banned
                              last edited by

                              I3 has hyoerthreading though

                              Ecc is usually totally unnecessary in pfsense home use  unless your mono requires it

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                              • M
                                mricecool
                                last edited by

                                @pfBasic:

                                I3 has hyoerthreading though

                                Ecc is usually totally unnecessary in pfsense home use  unless your mono requires it

                                Okey, good to know!

                                But both of them has hyper threading?

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                                • P
                                  pfBasic Banned
                                  last edited by

                                  I'm sorry you're right, I was thinking Celeron!

                                  If you want max openvpn performance the extra 600MHz on the 7350k will show.

                                  If you are ok with a compromise then the Pentium is an excellent choice.

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                                  • A
                                    Ashmodai6
                                    last edited by

                                    @pfBasic:

                                    @Ashmodai6:

                                    After a lot of hesitation I ordered today what I think is close to the best bang for the buck

                                    Intel Pentium G4560, 2x 3.50 GHz
                                    Motherboard Gigabyte GA-B250M-DS3H
                                    SSD SanDisk X400 256 Go M.2 SATA 6 Gbit/s
                                    8 GB DDR4 2133 CL15 Crucial (2x4GB)
                                    Case Inter-Tech GM-6013
                                    Intel i350T4
                                    Antes psu 350W (I had it already)

                                    Total around 375 usd delivered and performance not far from a i3 7350k (around 20% less for around 70% cheaper)
                                    I personally don't need more than 100mb for openvpn

                                    Solid build, it won't break a sweat @ 100Mbps and will do great with IDS/IPS! Enjoy.

                                    Actually my connection is 500/50 so I hope it will be able to cope with this even if seating :-)
                                    I was saying that for the openvpn part I don't care that much about high speed since I only use it to go around geofencing and I don't need so much speed the :-)

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                                    • D
                                      daveweinstein
                                      last edited by

                                      @mricecool:

                                      I found this thread: https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=129393.0 talking about the same subject. And a few performance specs from gig net with openvpn. Just for reference.

                                      I usually go for NC364T Quad-Port nics, but this build I'm going to try out the i340-t2 or i340-t4 to be redundant.

                                      So this build got a little out of hand regarding price. Im currently looking at this setup. Please review:

                                      CPU: i3-7350k, 180USD
                                      Motherboard: Supermicro X11SSL-F Socket lga1151, 255USD
                                      Case: Supermicro CSE-512L-260B Chassis with 260W power supply and some fans, 111USD
                                      CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-L9i, 50USD
                                      Memory: Kingston ValueRAM Server Premier KVR24SE17S8/4MB 4GB, 75USD
                                      HDD: KingFast F6 32GB 2.5" SATA SATA III MLC SSD, 25USD
                                      Extra Quad nic: i350-T4, 45USD

                                      180+255+111+50+75+25+45 = 741 USD

                                      This will be a future proof router.

                                      Any thoughts? =)

                                      How about this thing?

                                      Lanner NCA-1031

                                      Desktop Fanless x86 Network Appliance with Intel® Apollo Lake Processors

                                      Key features:

                                      • Intel® Atom™ x7-E3950 or x5-E3930 (Codenamed Apollo Lake)

                                      • 6x or 5x GbE RJ45, 2x USB 3.0 Ports, 1x RJ45 Console Port

                                      • 2x Pairs of Gen3 Bypass (SKU A&B)

                                      • 1x DDR3L Non-ECC SO-DIMM (Max. 8GB)

                                      • 1x Mini-PCIe Socket (SKU B&C)

                                      • Fanless Desktop Form Factor

                                      It seems very polished and appliance-like, and the x7-3950 can definitely do the job, but I haven't been able to find a price or online supplier.

                                      -dw

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