PFSense Build

[AndyH]

Hey,

I'm not completely sure if this is the right section but seems the most suited.

I'm currently looking to secure my home network, after my ISP's router with a Pfsense firewall for my home network, I've had no experience building computer hardware however feel it would be a perfect project. Could anybody possibly suggest some components for 1u firebuild preferably with a suggested chassis?

Im aware this is very vague, the firewall doesn't need to be able to handle a huge stress, my only real preferences are for it to have 2-4 LAN port for link aggregation. Nothing too specific. No harddrives just a single 32gb ssd and possibly just 4gb of ram.

Thanks in advance and again sorry for my vague post!

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

Not sure how well PFSense will handle link-aggregation...

Why LAG anyways? I mean I could understand if you was going to install SQUID on PFSense but aside from that I don't see you flooding a single 1Gbit connection on the LAN.

What is your total WAN side speed? Planning on running a VPN for your network?

You honestly have a few options, a lot of people elect to go with a mini-itx build with an atom based processor, though the board with an atom can get quiet expensive. But with the issues that Intel is having with C2xxx series processors commonly used, I would avoid such a build right now, it has actually caused quiet a stir with Cisco, the PFSense community, and pretty much EVERYONE using such boards.

The other approach is a low end motherboard with a low TDP cpu such as an Intel Pentium series processor or i3.

I would strongly urge against sticking with 1U for a custom build if at all possible... 2U is more doable and gives more room to build with. Airflow alone sucks in 1u with out a proper heatsink and nothing blocking airflow between the CPU and fan intake. If you want to stick with 1U I suggest either just buying a prebuilt box from the PFSense store (which helps support the project!) or buy a rack server of your choice that fits the dimensions you need. Either of those options are going to be very costly.

https://store.pfsense.org/hardware/


If you want a custom build, then the below should suffice just fine, throw in a decent PSU, HDD/SSD, and some RAM with a NIC and you will be set for ages to come IMO.
Case: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147180
Mobo: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157736
CPU: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117739


Make sure what ever quad port NIC you throw on the board is an Intel NIC and not some cheap generic junk. I also strongly suggest 8GB of RAM for PFSense in the event you do decide to play with more features in it.

I have one similar to this in my ESXi host, mileage may vary, cheap quad Gbit cards are always pulled/retired from other servers https://www.amazon.com/Intel-EXPI94...d=1487576739&sr=8-2&keywords=Quad+Gigabit+NIC