The difference when using pfsense router and PC when use pfSense
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I am using PC with intel mainboard, CPU Type Intel(R) Pentium(R) CPU G3460 @ 3.50GHz, Memory 8G, and 7 port LAN used for 60 PCs (gaming)
I want have the best performance, and save energy, as well as cost savings about fiber service.If use pfsense router will be any difference? Can you help me smoothly on this issue?
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The power draw of say netgate(pfsense) hardware is going to be way less than some PC hardware running pfsense if that is your question.
I am curious how your using your 7 port "lan" do you mean you have them bridged? Or you have 7 different lan segments that your 60 PCs are attached to via dumb switches?
When you mention fiber service - I assume your looking for hardware that can route/firewall gig speeds to the internet via a fiber internet connection with ethernet connection to pfsense wan.
What packages are you interested in running if any? Snort/Proxy/etc.. What kind of power draw is your PC doing currently? The problem with switching over to some new hardware is the cost of the hardware if your looking to make up the cost in power savings.. It could take a while.
Lets say your PC draws 60w.. The sg2440 for example draws 7w idle… Lets double that for working hard and call it 15w.. for a worse case scenario.. So your talking about saving 45w.. So you have a savings of 45w per hour of operation.. Even at 24 hours 7 days a week.. With a cost of 15 cents per kwh your only talking about saving around 60$ a year.. So with the cost of a SG2440 being $550 going to take you lot of years to get cost back..
Even if you want with something like a sg-1000, the payback time is going to be a couple of years in just power savings.
Would need better details to work out how long it would take to get your money back and start saving.. What are you paying per kwh in your area, how much does the PC draw idle and then underload, etc. But unless your PC was pulling hundreds of watts its going to be a really long time to get back your money in cost of a newer lower power using device..
I think what confuses people is that their PC might have a 600w or even 1000w power supply.. This is NOT what its going to be drawing when in use in your typical setup.. My little hp n40l microserver running multiple VMs and 4 hdds in it only draws like 55w during normal operation..
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Thanks johnpoz very much.
I used 7 port "LAN" use for: 3 WAN and 4 LAN.
Example: LAN 1: 192.168.1.250 (Gateway Groups), LAN 2: 192.168.1.1 (gateway WAN 1), LAN 2: 192.168.1.2 (gateway WAN 2), LAN 3: 192.168.1.1 (gateway WAN 3).We see the energy savings when using pfsense hardware.
more important, I would like to said, when we use the pfsense device, we will have the best performance and support? Have you ever used pfsense router can help me? -
I think you need to buy a NetGate/pfSense ready-made device and get paid support. Mostly because your setup may need some fine-tuning and running known-good hardware will help.
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Your wans make sense.. But your 4 lans are all in the same network.. So confused as to why you would do this?
Yes there would be energy savings.. But not very much in the big picture.. A normal pc just doesn't use up that much juice and will be long time to see the cost savings.. The cost of running 60 pcs to play games… I just do not see how you would worried about saving the cost of the "router" power in such a setup. When your only talking even 100w.. Which wouldn't be the case more like the cost of running a 60w light bulb ;)
But if your looking for the best way to run pfsense and have the best support then yes I would highly suggest you get a appliance from them and then pay for their new support model..
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Your wans make sense.. But your 4 lans are all in the same network.. So confused as to why you would do this?
Dear "johnpoz" When Gamer play Game A on WAN 1 being lag, they can change other gateway (other WAN). That will help them play game better.
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So you created vips on your lan then.. Wouldn't it just be easier to load balance across your wan group by putting them in the same tier?
https://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/Multi-WAN
Load Balancing
When two gateways are on the same tier, they will load balance. This means that on a per-connection basis, connections are routed over each WAN in a round-robin manner. If any gateway on the same tier goes down, it is removed from use and the other gateways on the tier continue to operate normally. -
He's probably running a gaming internet cafe or a lan party and wants users to be able to switch gateways as some games have better performance with some ISPs due to peering/routing differences.
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Ok that makes sense.. I would of done it via dynamic vlans though ;) and not vips.. Users are normally stupid - even "gamers" having them change their gateway manually asking for a shitton of questions ;)
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The subnet scheme still seems….. unusual! ???
Steve
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The subnet scheme still seems….. unusual! ???
Steve
Thanks Steve very much.
Can you help me to tell me more problem unusual so that I can improve it? -
@johnkeates:
He's probably running a gaming internet cafe or a lan party and wants users to be able to switch gateways as some games have better performance with some ISPs due to peering/routing differences.
That's right.
Ok that makes sense.. I would of done it via dynamic vlans though ;) and not vips.. Users are normally stupid - even "gamers" having them change their gateway manually asking for a shitton of questions ;)
I think 4 port LAN is easier for me :)
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I think we need a diagram showing exactly how you have it setup. Otherwise any advise we give may be incorrect.
Steve
