Looking for / recommend a motherboard
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Hello, Im looking to install multiple intel pro PCI cards.
Im looking for a motherboard with at least 4x PCI slots. (either pci or pci-express for NICs).
I did some googling around and didn't see any Full atx boards used.
I was wondering if anyone has used any desktop atx / full atx boards on their builds, and which ones?
pci-express can provide more bandwidth so any combination of pci and pci-express will do.
Thanks in advance.
also, I am looking for other recommendations on NICs.
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You can get a multi-port NIC. Soekris sells some PCI cards and I think Microtik makes them as well. Intel has some nice multi-port GBE NICs, just make sure they are on the HCL if you go that way.
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Thanks!
Has anyone tried the startech one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833114037
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What are your requirements for the pfSense rig in terms of throughput and services (Snort, VPN, Squid etc).
You should size the hardware based on your needs.
Most Intel/ AMD setups will work except that you need to check the onboard NIC for support.
Newer setups should work fine but some of the NICs like Intel 82579 & AR8151 are not currently supported in the current release images.
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Looking for as much throughput as we can get.
The box will run, snort / packet inspect, gateway, 2x site 2 site vpn, maybe a few end user vpns.
VOIP traffic, 2x wireless APs on different networks, 2x 48 port cisco 2960's, along with heavy internal traffic for 2x internal testing servers.
WAN connection will be fiber but terminated by copper.
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In the gigabit speed range or is your ISP going to limit you to less?
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Im pretty sure the WAN traffic won't be that hefty. What will be hefty is the Internal LAN traffic. Right now the internal network is connected on a gigabit switch.
It's not using much at the moment, but that's due to the testing servers are not online. Even when they do become online, Im pretty sure it won't go above the gigabit range.
I believe the ISP will limit to less (if more is needed, I will eventually bring in another line).
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Im pretty sure the WAN traffic won't be that hefty. What will be hefty is the Internal LAN traffic. Right now the internal network is connected on a gigabit switch.
It's not using much at the moment, but that's due to the testing servers are not online. Even when they do become online, Im pretty sure it won't go above the gigabit range.
I believe the ISP will limit to less (if more is needed, I will eventually bring in another line).
The internal LAN traffic will not matter for the pfSense box unless you have multiple LANs (or VLANs) that the box needs to route between. What matters is the actual routing throughput - that is, from WAN to LAN and/ or VLAN to VLAN.
Snort can be a hog on processing power depending on how well you actually end up configuring it. VPN encryption will also take a toll on the processor.
For your setup, I reckon at least a Core i3/ i5 with 2GB or 4GB of ram would be a good start.
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With PCI-E type Intel NICs. If you use PCI, you will be limited by the PCI bus.