I'm putting a build together for a pfsense box as per the image below, i'm happy with the hardware, however i'm not overly happy in the choice of case. does anyone have suggestions for smaller cases no requirement for it to be nice at all just something i can fit it all in. obviously psu could be an issue and if required could lean towards a pico psu of some description.
The more important question is why you're paying for so much horsepower just to run pfsense? Something like the celeron J3455 would be much better suited, although you probably wouldn't find one with dual NICs, so an addon card would be needed. Also, please tell me your not planning on running the OS off of a usb flash drive? Pick up a used 32/40/64gb ssd for that.
If you're after properly tiny, you're looking at a bit more ££ and a setup like this - Plus a 2242 or 2260 SSD like this one and a power brick. You could possibly save a few quid on the cpu/board/cooler combo and get a thin itx board with a soldered on Celeron, but i couldn't find one that ticked all the right boxes. You'll need to break out the dremel though if you want wifi with that case though, the board has an m2 slot for a wifi card but the case has nowhere to mount the antennae.
Slightly off thread, I know you said you are happy with the hardware. Have you considered using an Ubiquiti Edgerouter instead, smaller, cheaper and well packed with features. Nothing wrong with pfSense mind, I have it running my internal network on an old Lenovo desktop I bought for £15
If you want really small and don't mind paying for it, I can recommend the Compulab Fitlet. Dual Quad core, 64-bit, dual gigabit Ethernet, dual antenna Wi-Fi, and eSATA and USB 3.0 if you wanted to hang storage off it. Look at it! How cute is that?!
Given it clearly states it was review sample - probably... Just probably not here, but for one of the other sites/magazines Gareth writes for.
1. Make sure that the Wifi adapter is supported in BSD (it prob. wont be, so don't waste money on one). 2. Get an SSD, unless you have no desire using clam/snort/ntopng/etc. Or alternatively - get whole passive system for 200-300$ from alliexpress.
Already done: I reviewed it back in Issue 159 of Linux User & Developer and Issue 148 of Custom PC, both back at the tail end of 2015. Spoilers: I was pretty impressed. Good performance, booted happily into Linux and supports Windows (but I didn't try that), although coming back to the thread's topic I have to confess I didn't test BSD - but I couldn't see it being a problem, 'cos at its heart it's a bog-standard x86 PC in there. Oh, and I misremembered: it's not dual-core but quad-core. It's the A10 Micro-6700T, which was originally made for tablets. Quad-core 1.2GHz boosting to 2.2GHz, 2MB L2 cache, AMD64, hardware virtualisation, and a 500MHz 'Mullins' Radeon R6 GPU - not that the latter matters much for a pfSense box! 4.5W TDP, cooled totally passively - the ridged top of the case acts as a passive heatsink, and you can buy one with bigger fins if you fancy it. You can even overclock the thing from the BIOS, which came as a shock! EDIT: Compulab says pfSense works fine on the Fitlet.
To further dilute the thread, have you considered Sophos UTM over pfsense? Equally powerful and far easier to manage IMHO
Quite easily https://www.scan.co.uk/products/antec-isk-110-vesa-uk-mini-itx-case-with-90w-psu I was going to suggest Mini ITX Thin - I've never seen a Mini ITX Thin build in person, but the dimensions are certainly impressive. That is cute...
I run Sophos XG on these, no doubt it'd be fine with pfsense also: https://www.aliexpress.com/store/pr...re-2-usb-VGA-firewall/108231_32598483952.html
For pfSense router, in my view, you want low power consumption and Intel NIC's so I would go for either a Qotom (linked in post above) or have you considered a PCEngines APU2C4 based routers, they are tiny and completely silent / passive with plenty of power for home network unless you have Gb internet. The PCEngines units are also super easy to assemble and are very power efficient (6W) so will save you money compared to PC hardware based units. Chunks
Hehe, absolutely, this also works especially if you already have a suitable server and the spare CPU With your main router there is something comforting about having a separate box though, with blinky lights and stuff (stupid, I know, but thats how I feel) Chunks
True, it was just and opportunity to use a great meme. I have ended up virtualising pfSense as the old Lenovo I was using started to make some funny noises. I will eventually have it as a separate box again when I can be bothered to find something, I am liking the fitlet shown above.