1u server for pfSense

Haven't used one personally but see no reason why it wouldn't work depending on your requirements.

What are your requirements?

Note that the one you linked is probably very inefficient and would cost a fair bit to run 24/7.
 
I usually buy supermicro barebones, so yes I could say I use 1U Rackable systems. It always depends on where you want to put that, the fans noise on those units can be disturbing.

For small business I usually go with Hacom or NetGate kits.
 
That seems like overkill for a pfsense box. I just run an Atom D525 with 1GB of ram. Works perfectly fine :) for a home connection.
 
nry said:
Haven't used one personally but see no reason why it wouldn't work depending on your requirements.

What are your requirements?

Note that the one you linked is probably very inefficient and would cost a fair bit to run 24/7.
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This is going in a data center for our disaster recovery site. Unless there is something here that takes down our main data center this will only see me syncing files with it.

Metraon said:
I usually buy supermicro barebones, so yes I could say I use 1U Rackable systems. It always depends on where you want to put that, the fans noise on those units can be disturbing.

For small business I usually go with Hacom or NetGate kits.
Click to expand...

In our main data center I did a supermicro atom based one and it works great. It will be in another data center and the power draw is not an issue. This would end up being cheaper than the Hacom or NetGate systems as I am required to have it in a rackable format.
 
Shockey said:
That seems like overkill for a pfsense box. I just run an Atom D525 with 1GB of ram. Works perfectly fine :) for a home connection.
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This. That box is WAY too much for a pfsense machine, unless you don't mind it drawing like 250w at all times. I use the d525 supermicro 1u box for my pfsense firewall as well. Been running with no issues for 2+ years now.
 
TType85 said:
This is going in a data center for our disaster recovery site. Unless there is something here that takes down our main data center this will only see me syncing files with it.



In our main data center I did a supermicro atom based one and it works great. It will be in another data center and the power draw is not an issue. This would end up being cheaper than the Hacom or NetGate systems as I am required to have it in a rackable format.
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Good then, if its business critical for you, buy 2 of them and have some spare pieces :) With that price you can afford that and have some ''tranquility''. I agree, it is cheaper !
 
RocketTech said:
Use the money you save not buying an atom, 1U case, and bits- to pay for power.
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We are charged a flat amount for our power per month. So far in the 1/3 rack we will have a 1U HP VM Server
1U Firewall
1U Switch
1U 4-Drive file server

All of this is just going to be sitting there just in case there is a disaster here in so-cal that takes out our main data center.
 
The Rackable 2U's have some significant NIC reliability issues, I assume that the dual-quad 1u's use the same board. I've gone through about 4 of those counting trashed units and RMAs to eBay sellers. For that price range/ Tech level look for a DL360G5. Should be close to the same price and more common commodity parts.
 
At that price I'd go for it. Even if it's overpowered, building an Atom based from scratch is going to cost more than that box anyway.
 
Shockey said:
That seems like overkill for a pfsense box. I just run an Atom D525 with 1GB of ram. Works perfectly fine :) for a home connection.
Click to expand...

+1

I have this very set up, I can however advise you that you WILL NEED SOME ACTIVE COOLING if you have it in a 1u chassis, unless maybe you live in Siberia!

Living in the UK, our summers are nothing to shout about but mine regularly 'fell over' in our lead-up to our poor excuse for a summer, never mind the summer itself.

A small ducted fan drawing air across the CPU and job's a good'un!
 
I use Dell PowerEdge 1750s- Still overkill for pfSense, even with VPN, but they provide a lot of redundancy for the price, huge spare availability, and quality bits. The 1650s are good as well and share some parts.
I would NOT recommend them for any scenario without a dedicated server room as they are quite loud.
 
Nate7311 said:
The Rackable 2U's have some significant NIC reliability issues, I assume that the dual-quad 1u's use the same board. I've gone through about 4 of those counting trashed units and RMAs to eBay sellers. For that price range/ Tech level look for a DL360G5. Should be close to the same price and more common commodity parts.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up on the NIC issues. i'll take a look at the HP's
 
And/Or if it's DR and you're virtualized... Have you thought of running pfSense in virtual?
 
Nate7311 said:
And/Or if it's DR and you're virtualized... Have you thought of running pfSense in virtual?
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I was thinking about that but I think the issues is going to be that we are going to have both an internet connection and a cross connect between data centers. if I throw in a dual or quad port nic maybe I can assign it as needed.

Then the issue becomes management. I am going to have to play with my test box at home this weekend
 
/usr/home said:
Does it HAVE to be PFSense? What are your requirements in a firewall?
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We currently have a pfSens firewall in our production data center. I was going to stick with it, but there is no real reason not to have a different one. This will just be covering the internet connection coming in.
 
TType85 said:
We currently have a pfSens firewall in our production data center. I was going to stick with it, but there is no real reason not to have a different one. This will just be covering the internet connection coming in.
Click to expand...

what features do you need?

i've got about 6 of the ubiquiti edgerouters deployed now... i didn't think they were ready for primetime, so i put some out as testers and i'm really quite happy with them.... i've had one bad unit that i had to RMA, the rest have been solid...

i rackmount them with an aluminum bracket RFArmor sells... $160 pretty cheap for what you get imo.... i run pfsense in my core routers, but it really depends on what features you need....
 
goodcooper said:
what features do you need?

i've got about 6 of the ubiquiti edgerouters deployed now... i didn't think they were ready for primetime, so i put some out as testers and i'm really quite happy with them.... i've had one bad unit that i had to RMA, the rest have been solid...

i rackmount them with an aluminum bracket RFArmor sells... $160 pretty cheap for what you get imo.... i run pfsense in my core routers, but it really depends on what features you need....
Click to expand...

That's why I asked if PFSense was necessary. I recommend this too. They just announced the EdgeRouter and the Pro. Both are rackmount from the go and the Pro had two SFP slots.

They were just announced yesterday so pricing hadn't been confirmed yet. I'm guessing $200-250 for the Pro.
 
/usr/home said:
That's why I asked if PFSense was necessary. I recommend this too. They just announced the EdgeRouter and the Pro. Both are rackmount from the go and the Pro had two SFP slots.

They were just announced yesterday so pricing hadn't been confirmed yet. I'm guessing $200-250 for the Pro.
Click to expand...

yea, i'm looking forward to seeing the pricing as well...
 
goodcooper said:
yea, i'm looking forward to seeing the pricing as well...
Click to expand...

I want to justify getting one so I can rack-mount my current ERL currently. I could get a RFarmour kit, but with shipping that's like 75-80 bucks and then one side would be empty. I've thought of getting another ERL to play with HSRP and to fill the second slot haha.

I just like playing with new routers...

Sorry to thread hijack :D
 
TType85 said:
I was thinking about that but I think the issues is going to be that we are going to have both an internet connection and a cross connect between data centers. if I throw in a dual or quad port nic maybe I can assign it as needed.

Then the issue becomes management. I am going to have to play with my test box at home this weekend
Click to expand...

I'd assume that you'd have a managed switch in the site, just use VLANs and create an interface on the VM bound to a VLAN. You don't necessarily need a boatload of NICs,but it can help.
 
The EdgeRouter looks like a nice product. I think the one thing I use in pfSense that may not be in it is the Snort package for IDS/IPS.

With the edgerouter with 8 ports do the act as switch ports too?
 
TType85 said:
The EdgeRouter looks like a nice product. I think the one thing I use in pfSense that may not be in it is the Snort package for IDS/IPS.

With the edgerouter with 8 ports do the act as switch ports too?
Click to expand...

If you want them to you can bridge them.
 
Nate7311 said:
The Rackable 2U's have some significant NIC reliability issues, I assume that the dual-quad 1u's use the same board. I've gone through about 4 of those counting trashed units and RMAs to eBay sellers. For that price range/ Tech level look for a DL360G5. Should be close to the same price and more common commodity parts.
Click to expand...

I bought 2 rackable systems w/ dual DC Opterons and upgraded to QC. Had them running for 2+ years with no issues at all. They are just loud and use a lot of power.
 
Biznatch said:
I bought 2 rackable systems w/ dual DC Opterons and upgraded to QC. Had them running for 2+ years with no issues at all. They are just loud and use a lot of power.
Click to expand...

Yeah, those are AMD versions. The OP referenced the Intel Xeon 5300/5400 variety of the Rackable boxes. That's what I had my experiences on. :)
 
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