Netgate Discussion Forum
    • Categories
    • Recent
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Users
    • Search
    • Register
    • Login

    Hardware List for Gigabit WAN

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Hardware
    23 Posts 10 Posters 12.5k Views
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • I
      Ibes
      last edited by

      I was hoping I could get someone to take a peek at my hardware upgrade plans before I pull the trigger on the upgrade parts.

      About me:
      I am an electrical engineer by education, a software engineer and reverse engineer by trade, but by no means an expert of any kind with respect to networking.  I know as much as I have needed to know about networking, and nothing more.

      I've been trying to remedy that lack of knowledge, and I would love any recommended reads on networking.

      Current Status (Speed figures in Download/Upload Mbps):
      Directly connected, I get approximately 850/850 and up depending on the time of day.
      Connected directly through pfsense (No switches in between), I get about 380/380.
      Through my E3000 with DD-WRT, I get about 140/140 if I overclock it to 533Mhz.

      Goal:
      At least 750/750 through the pfsense box
      Multi Site to Site VPN for sharing access to my local network.  100 Mbps over VPN would be plenty and default routes for other sites would still go through their normal gateway.

      Current Build:

      • 1.6 GHz Intel Atom N330 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813500036)

      • 2GB DDR2 RAM (Some really old Corsair XMS or XMS2)

      • HP NC360T Pro/1000 PT

      Proposed Build:

      • Intel Core i3-4150 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor (http://www.ncixus.com/products/?usaffiliateid=1000031504&sku=96206&vpn=BX80646I34150&manufacture=Intel&promoid=1401)

      • 8GB DDR3 RAM (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0037TO5C0/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1) (Already have this sitting around unused)

      • HP NC360T Pro/1000 PT

      • Zotac H87ITX-A-E Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard (http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=MB-H87I-AE&c=CJ)

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • H
        Harvy66
        last edited by

        Without having built a box with similar spec or using VPN to test anything, in theory, it should work. My i5 3.2ghz quad core only uses about 4% cpu doing 1.3gb/s, but with 1500byte packets. With synthetic benchmarks, the Intel "i" processors are capable of nearly 1GB/s/core with AES-NI, but still over 100MB/s/core in software.

        Unless you're trying to make a core router that may handle lots of small packets, I would say that build would do what you're asking. I don't know a whole lot about the NIC, but it looks to be a re-branded Intel of the sort, so I assume it's good.

        Don't expect high performance if you're doing to run anything extra that may be CPU intensive, like snort.

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • I
          Ibes
          last edited by

          @Harvy66:

          Without having built a box with similar spec or using VPN to test anything, in theory, it should work. My i5 3.2ghz quad core only uses about 4% cpu doing 1.3gb/s, but with 1500byte packets. With synthetic benchmarks, the Intel "i" processors are capable of nearly 1GB/s/core with AES-NI, but still over 100MB/s/core in software.

          Unless you're trying to make a core router that may handle lots of small packets, I would say that build would do what you're asking. I don't know a whole lot about the NIC, but it looks to be a re-branded Intel of the sort, so I assume it's good.

          Don't expect high performance if you're doing to run anything extra that may be CPU intensive, like snort.

          Do you mean a core router as described here?  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Core_router – I only ask because I originally interpreted your response as the main router for the home.

          How much more would it take to run snort?  I hadn't really planned on it, but you have caught my interest, and I've been watching my firewall and seeing a lot more activity than I would have expected.  DD-WRT didn't tell me as much of what it was doing.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • stephenw10S
            stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
            last edited by

            That spec will have no problems doing what you've listed. With AES-NI (when that's fully implemented in pfSense) you'll probably see close to or above the line speed even with encrypted traffic.
            A Celeron G530 will firewall/NAT at >1Gbps and the i3-4150 is more than double the performance in single or multithread benchmarks.
            If anything you may have overshot the target!  ;)

            Steve

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • I
              Ibes
              last edited by

              @stephenw10:

              That spec will have no problems doing what you've listed. With AES-NI (when that's fully implemented in pfSense) you'll probably see close to or above the line speed even with encrypted traffic.
              A Celeron G530 will firewall/NAT at >1Gbps and the i3-4150 is more than double the performance in single or multithread benchmarks.
              If anything you may have overshot the target!  ;)

              Steve

              Thanks for your help!

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • K
                Khampol
                last edited by

                try this..

                4 LAN Ports Network Security PC Hardware Platform,Mini itx PC Fanless Firewall Computer …

                spec..

                Main Board •Intel® Atom™ D2550 Dual Core processor, 1.86GHz •Integrated Intel GMA 3600
                Main Memory •1 x DDR3 SO-DIMM socket, support up to 4GB DDR3 1333/800 SDRAM
                Storage •2 x 2.5" SATA HDD drive bay •1 x Mini SATA Slot •1 x CF Slot
                Lan •4 x Realtek 82583V, 10/100/1000M, Support PXE, Wake on Lan
                Watchdog Timer •255 levels, 0~255 sec
                BIOS •AMI 16MB DPI Flash ROM
                Expansion •1x PCI Slot
                I/O Interface-Front • Power on/ off switch
                I/O Interface-Rear •4 x RJ-45 •1x COM1( CISCO)+1x COM2(15PIN) •2 x USB2.0 •1 x VGA •1x DC IN
                Power Requirements •12V DC IN
                Dimensions •225 mm (W) x180 mm (D) x50mm (H)
                Construction •Aluminum Chassis with Fanless Design

                As storage use SSD DOM (better for saving energy)..

                …. sexy heu?... I order 1 for home ;))

                ps : alibaba.com …

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • S
                  Supermule Banned
                  last edited by

                  Link and does it have any WIFI options??

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • stephenw10S
                    stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                    last edited by

                    You won't see 1Gbps thoughput from an old style Atom. You might see close to 850Mbps with some tuning, probably not with Realtek NICs though. That's without any packages or encryption.

                    Steve

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • R
                      robi
                      last edited by

                      @stephenw10:

                      You might see close to 850Mbps with some tuning

                      Steve, can you please point me into the right direction about this? Just out of curiosity.

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • stephenw10S
                        stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                        last edited by

                        That was a guess based on one users 640Mbps from a lesser Atom after some tuning. A D510 has been shown to be good for 500Mbps.
                        Let me see if I can find the posts….

                        Here. 640Mbps from a D2500 with Intel NICs.

                        Here. 485Mbps from a  D510 with Intel NICs.

                        So in fact the D2550 is almost identical, I was mistaking it for the D2700. The box above is unlikely to get more than 650Mbps.

                        Steve

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • R
                          robi
                          last edited by

                          Thanks.

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • ?
                            Guest
                            last edited by

                            @stephenw10:

                            That spec will have no problems doing what you've listed. With AES-NI (when that's fully implemented in pfSense) you'll probably see close to or above the line speed even with encrypted traffic.
                            A Celeron G530 will firewall/NAT at >1Gbps and the i3-4150 is more than double the performance in single or multithread benchmarks.
                            If anything you may have overshot the target!  ;)

                            Steve

                            I've seen 2.2Gbps AES-GCM 128bit between two QC Xeon boxes over 10Gbps given recent snapshots.  Is that "fully implemented" enough for you?

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • stephenw10S
                              stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                              last edited by

                              Good enough for me.  ;)

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • K
                                Khampol
                                last edited by

                                @stephenw10:

                                You won't see 1Gbps thoughput from an old style Atom. You might see close to 850Mbps with some tuning, probably not with Realtek NICs though. That's without any packages or encryption.

                                Steve

                                And You think u ll see it with an .

                                Intel(R) Celeron(R) CPU 1037U @ 1.80GHz
                                2 CPUs: 1 package(s) x 2 core(s)

                                …..?

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • stephenw10S
                                  stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                  last edited by

                                  Yes, though it depends on other hardware. Realtek NICs will slow things down. The C1037U scores more than 3X higher than the D2500 in a single thread benchmark, which is what counts until 2.2 is released.

                                  https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare.php?cmp[]=605&cmp[]=606&cmp[]=1988
                                  

                                  Copy ans paste the above URL, the brackets screw up the code if I put it as a link.

                                  Steve

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • K
                                    Khampol
                                    last edited by

                                    @stephenw10:

                                    Yes, though it depends on other hardware. Realtek NICs will slow things down. The C1037U scores more than 3X higher than the D2500 in a single thread benchmark, which is what counts until 2.2 is released

                                    In fact i do not have exactly the setup i posted higher :) … As Lan I have this

                                    2x onboard Intel® 82574L 10/100/1000 Mb/s Ethernet Controler 1000baseT

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • A
                                      asterix
                                      last edited by

                                      I just posted this for on another thread which has the hardware details that you can take a look at…..

                                      https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=86029.msg474387#msg474387

                                      The hardware will easily support your 850/850 bandwidth along with resource intensive packages fully loaded. I have tested the same config in a test environment and it used up the entire 1 gigabit WAN network (my test network is 1 gigabit only) and the CPU was around 39-42% with the resource intensive packages. On base install the CPU never crossed 20%. I thought of doing a 2 gigabit test but it wasn't worth my time.

                                      At current prices you wouldn't get very high cost to power savings ratio by going with the latest Rangley Atoms or 1150s, unless you plan to keep the hardware for 5+ years for the same use.

                                      Get the 3rd generation hardware for 1/3rd of the 1150 price and save some $$

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • K
                                        Khampol
                                        last edited by

                                        very interesting post thanks! i will think about it for the office  ;D

                                        but in my situation right now its home and have place only for small appliance (mine is case:19cmx19cmx5cm) and widely enough.

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • A
                                          asterix
                                          last edited by

                                          This is at my home ;D

                                          The mobo is micro-atx, previously I used a mini-ITX. The hardware is more geared towards supporting higher WAN bandwidth and the same time keeping the hardware real estate small and low power consuming.

                                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • K
                                            Khampol
                                            last edited by

                                            @Asterix:

                                            This is at my home ;D

                                            lol !  :o :o

                                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                            • First post
                                              Last post
                                            Copyright 2025 Rubicon Communications LLC (Netgate). All rights reserved.