Possible to install pfsense in esxi along with server and freenas?

Snailkhan · Jan 24, 2016, 6:05 PM

Hi
I have this little machine ndis 166.
Processor Intel i7 2620m. Ram 8gb. Two intel builtin nics.
II want to install esxi 6.1 on ssd and install a pfsense on this in a VM. Besides I will also install Windows server 2012 r2 and promote it to domain controller.. It will do dhcp and dns in my network. And pfsense will use it for radius or ldap (squid /openvpn/ wireless controller 802.1x)
And also install freenas in another VM. And integrate it with pfsense.

Bandwidth throughput required on Wan is 8mbps.
On Lan 100mbps.

It's it paddocks to accommodate all three in a 60gb ssd?

If not I will install esxi, pfsense and freenas on ssd and install server 2012 r2 on a the disk that will be used as free nas data disk in a separate os partition.

What is recommended as virtualization platform? Esxi 6.1 or server 2012 R2?

Regards

johnpoz · Jan 24, 2016, 6:55 PM

60GB a bit small, But sure your not using anything extra space hungry. Pfsense sure doesn't need a lot of space. Nor does freenas OS

When did esxi 6.1 come out?? You mean 6.0 current build is 3380124 which came out 1/7/16

Snailkhan · Jan 25, 2016, 2:40 AM

@johnpoz:

60GB a bit small, But sure your not using anything extra space hungry. Pfsense sure doesn't need a lot of space. Nor does freenas OS

When did esxi 6.1 come out?? You mean 6.0 current build is 3380124 which came out 1/7/16

My bad I meant update 1 to version 6.
What is the minimum acceptable size for pfsense installation? Should 3gb do?

Uplink for pfsense is via adsl modem in bridging mode.

Of esxi and hyper-v which is recommended?
If I install server 2012 r2 and make it the domain controller and dns/dhcp server and then install pfsense and freenas as hyper-v VM would that also work?

And pfsense doing the pppoe portion of connection.

johnpoz · Jan 25, 2016, 4:42 AM

I am not a fan of hyper-v, esxi is much better in IMHO… others might disagree.. Try both and see which you like better..

Pfsense uses almost nothing..

My current vm
/ (ufs): 29% of 3.9G

Comes down to what packages you will be installing..

Mats · Jan 25, 2016, 6:43 PM

@Snailkhan:

@johnpoz:

60GB a bit small, But sure your not using anything extra space hungry. Pfsense sure doesn't need a lot of space. Nor does freenas OS

When did esxi 6.1 come out?? You mean 6.0 current build is 3380124 which came out 1/7/16

My bad I meant update 1 to version 6.
What is the minimum acceptable size for pfsense installation? Should 3gb do?

Uplink for pfsense is via adsl modem in bridging mode.

Of esxi and hyper-v which is recommended?
If I install server 2012 r2 and make it the domain controller and dns/dhcp server and then install pfsense and freenas as hyper-v VM would that also work?

And pfsense doing the pppoe portion of connection.

You can Install server 2012 as the operating system on the box and then use Hyper-v for freenas and Pfsense.
If it's for a home environment it may even be a fair idea. For a production server for a Company - I wouldn't recommend it.

Snailkhan · Jan 26, 2016, 3:22 AM

@Mats:

@Snailkhan:

@johnpoz:

60GB a bit small, But sure your not using anything extra space hungry. Pfsense sure doesn't need a lot of space. Nor does freenas OS

When did esxi 6.1 come out?? You mean 6.0 current build is 3380124 which came out 1/7/16

My bad I meant update 1 to version 6.
What is the minimum acceptable size for pfsense installation? Should 3gb do?

Uplink for pfsense is via adsl modem in bridging mode.

Of esxi and hyper-v which is recommended?
If I install server 2012 r2 and make it the domain controller and dns/dhcp server and then install pfsense and freenas as hyper-v VM would that also work?

And pfsense doing the pppoe portion of connection.

You can Install server 2012 as the operating system on the box and then use Hyper-v for freenas and Pfsense.
If it's for a home environment it may even be a fair idea. For a production server for a Company - I wouldn't recommend it.

Yes its a home network.
Can i also run ad dns dhcp on that server 2012 r2 install or I have to install a new os for it?
Would pfsense have any issue in establishing pppoe connection for Wan.?

GomezAddams · Jan 28, 2016, 6:13 PM

Hyper-V and ESX are both reasonable solutions.

For your situation, since you will have Server 2012 anyway, you might as well install it on the hardware, then make pfsense and freenas Hyper-V virtuals. Caveat: I've never tried to install the Hyper-V role on a DC. I assume that's possible, but you'd want to verify.

60GB will be tight. I assume the freenas instance will just be for testing since you won't have much disk to allocate to it.

I'm running pfsense on a 2GB USB stick. Seems to work just fine, but I don't do anything fancy.

I don't know how Server 2012 is going to look long term, but I know some of our Server 2008 R2 installs are taking large amounts of disk because of an ever growing c:\Windows\sxs folder. I predict that you'll outgrow that 60GB disk pretty quickly.

Advantages of Hyper-V over ESXi free version:

1. You get changed block tracking. Backup solutions can do differential backups of your vm's. Veeam's free backup tool will work.
2. If you set up another box, you can have shared-none clustering for redundancy.
3. You don't have to worry about hardware compatibility. ESX is notoriously finicky about built-in NICs.

Advantages of ESXi:

1. ESXi is lightweight on disk requirements (in fact, I think you can install it to a USB stick). You could use ESXi as your hypervisor and make your server 2012 a virtual. This would let you easily move it when you outgrow the 60GB SSD. Installing your DC on the bare metal will make it difficult to move when you outgrow the 60GB disk.

I think the big question is how do you want to handle the future when you outgrow the 60GB disk. With Server 2012 installed on the hardware, your only growth path is to install another disk and extend the C: drive to it. With ESX your DC is just a vmdk that can be moved wherever you want it.

kesawi · Jan 29, 2016, 6:51 AM

@GomezAddams:

For your situation, since you will have Server 2012 anyway, you might as well install it on the hardware, then make pfsense and freenas Hyper-V virtuals. Caveat: I've never tried to install the Hyper-V role on a DC. I assume that's possible, but you'd want to verify.

I don't know how Server 2012 is going to look long term, but I know some of our Server 2008 R2 installs are taking large amounts of disk because of an ever growing c:\Windows\sxs folder. I predict that you'll outgrow that 60GB disk pretty quickly.

I've been running Server 2012 R2 for almost two years on a 30GB partition to service my home network and have around 8GB free. Bulk storage such as backups and WSUS repositories can go on the FreeNAS storage. 60GB isn't that much but it can be managed, particularly on a smaller network.

@Snailkhan:

II want to install esxi 6.1 on ssd and install a pfsense on this in a VM. Besides I will also install Windows server 2012 r2 and promote it to domain controller.. It will do dhcp and dns in my network. And pfsense will use it for radius or ldap (squid /openvpn/ wireless controller 802.1x)

Have you considered running radius on Server 2012? If you have NAP installed together with Active Directory Certificate Services then that can integrate 802.1x authentication with your domain login, as well as automated certificate enrolment and renewal for your domain joined computers. Each has its advantages and disadvantages.