Functionality Demo / ProofOfConcept / small site hw

maymann

Hi Forum,

As a ProofOfConcept I would like to start up with some HW that I might be able to utilize later on in our smaller sites (e.g 100Mbit / 30 users).

I would like to install: http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/security/security-howto/31433-build-your-own-utm-with-pfsense-part-1. So I guess I need at least some processing power and memory - 2 raid1 HDDs for logging or can all plugins syslog (what about when we have failures…?) ?
Besides the obvious, I need to further test the following functionality:

Internal loadbalancing failover (CARP)
External loadbalancing failover (BGP)
Smooth failover of all plugins
Mobile OneTimePassword (like http://www.smspasscode.com) for encrypted LinuxOnUsbStick with VPN client to access corporate network from any PC.

1. Any recommendations on hardware from/outside: http://www.pfsense.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=44&Itemid=50 would be much appreciated...
2. WAN NFS+CIFS optimization plugin ?

Thanks in advance :) !
~maymann

asterix

Processor - Atom or the 3rd generation low power i3 processor (Just 35 TDP (W) launching in a couple of days most likely). I highly recommend the i3 3rd generation.

Check out the leaked specs
http://news.softpedia.com/newsImage/Intel-Core-i3-Ivy-Bridge-CPU-Specs-Leaked-Lack-PCI-Express-3-0-4.jpg/

Mobo - Mini-ITX compatible with above 1155 i3 processor. Maybe Micro-ATX if you like. Mini-ITX would consume less power (I suppose). If you are going with Atom then most likely it will be a processor mobo combo.
RAM - 4GB RAM. I recommend 4GB+ if you are going to install resource intensive packages like Snort..etc
HDD - SSD would be better for fast Squid caching. Size depends on your needs. My recommendation.. start with 80GB to 128GB