How Much Power do I need for untangle

DeChache

DeChache

Supreme [H]ardness
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Oct 30, 2005
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I want to build an untangle box for use at home. The problem I am having is deciding how much hardware I need to throw at it. I have it narrowed down to two options basically.

1) Intel Atom 510 with 2 gig of ram.

2) Intel Mini-ITX i3 system. 2 gigs of ram.

Both systems will be using a dual port Intel Server Nic for network access.

There will be around 10 systems behind the file of which maybe 3-4 will be active at one time. Mainly just basic home internet usage from my 2 roommates and some gaming and other dutys with my systems though nothing heavy think WHS remote access and some RDP.

What system would you guys use. The only real requirements on my side is stability and low power usage. If the atom won't keep up I have no problem using the more powerful system but if the atom will do it. I would like to use that.


Thanks for the insight.
 
Atoms are great for the basics, but if you have virus detection enabled along with one or two others I'd go with the i3. They have alot more power to quickly get through virus scans and some other CPU intensive tasks that can go on within untangle.

though having said that the atom might be juuust enough for your needs since you are going to be using the best nic (I LOVE intel nics!) for the job. You likely already know that realtec nics are a bad choice for this kinda job.
 
About 10 systems...but what kind of use? Basic web surfing from several...the Atom will do OK. Do online gaming and have roomies that do torrents 'n p2p junk...and throw in a VoIP, and you'll want some nut to drive UT.
 
Depends on your UT options more than anything. If you want the luxury to enable everything without a speed hit, the i3 will certainly handle it, the Atom may not.
 
It'll handle it with all the options fine....I have some UT rigs in production running on pre-hyperthread and first hyperthread P4's....in the low to mid 2GHz range, with 1 or 2 gigs of RAM, networks of 20 and more clients, Exchange servers, 10 and 20 meg pipes...no slowdowns. For clients with heavier traffic...SPAM filter can work hard if you're passing over a few thousand e-mails per day through it..but those old rigs hold up fine. D510 will certainly run circles around those old rigs.

With Untangle..it's the quality of the NICs more than anything. And he's doing well with Intels.

But hearing "home"..and "10 users"..makes me think dorm like usage...making me think torrents and stuff, and probably Vonage or something..and online gaming...so a little more beef would probably be preferred in that case.
 
YeOldeStonecat said:
It'll handle it with all the options fine....I have some UT rigs in production running on pre-hyperthread and first hyperthread P4's....in the low to mid 2GHz range, with 1 or 2 gigs of RAM, networks of 20 and more clients, Exchange servers, 10 and 20 meg pipes...no slowdowns. For clients with heavier traffic...SPAM filter can work hard if you're passing over a few thousand e-mails per day through it..but those old rigs hold up fine. D510 will certainly run circles around those old rigs.

With Untangle..it's the quality of the NICs more than anything. And he's doing well with Intels.

But hearing "home"..and "10 users"..makes me think dorm like usage...making me think torrents and stuff, and probably Vonage or something..and online gaming...so a little more beef would probably be preferred in that case.
Click to expand...


Its 3 users and 10 systems. But there is probably going to be a lot of video streaming and the such. I'm leaning towards using a more powerful system. I want to make use of quite a few of the plug ins. I'm planning on blocking torrents and all that type of stuff since the internet is in my name.
 
DeChache said:
Its 3 users and 10 systems. But there is probably going to be a lot of video streaming and the such. I'm leaning towards using a more powerful system. I want to make use of quite a few of the plug ins. I'm planning on blocking torrents and all that type of stuff since the internet is in my name.
Click to expand...

Go with the i3. You'll never have issues with slowdowns with a CPU like that.
 
D510 should be pretty good if you don't have a large pipe. I'm running on D330 with 12 Mbps down and 1.5 Mbps up. With torrent at full speed, the system load is 1.6 out of 2 when most the feature enabled. My vpn load is only 0.5 out of 2 due to low upload speed. My feeling is you should do fine with D510, but with i3 you have the option to convert the box to something else.
 
I've got Untangle running on a D510 with 2 gigs of ram. :D Machine sits around .1 to .7 on the usage meter. It's supporting heavy downloading, my exchange server, 2 xbox's on live at the same time, vpn, etc. I've got a 16down 2up business line with 5 ips. I'm using an old intel compaq branded dual 10/100 card in the pci slot for my lan and wan. Can't beat 12 dollar ebay deals. :) I am not using the onboard nic.

I'm running the various free addons that come with it including the av scanner, spam filter, intrusion detection, etc. Even if you are doing heavy torrenting, a dual core plus hyper threading shouldn't have trouble keeping up.

Having a computer that's passively cooled except for a near silent case fan and a silent power supply is really nice.
 
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I'm running a Smoothwall on an old P3 500 with 512MB ram and it works extremely well... NO slowdowns.
 
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