Need advice on a way overdue network upgrade.

T

TGA

Gawd
Joined
Jun 26, 2004
Messages
825
I have been looking to update my home network for a year now and keep putting it off. Meanwhile things are starting to get really bad. I had been using an SMC barricade router for a few years expect it didn't seem to be powerful enough to handle SPI but with it off the thing was great and reliable. But it has since died and I just garbed a cheap wired router to hold me over until I figured out what to do. But this POS can't seven handle Internet use for more then one PC. I get web pages timing out left and right when more then on PC is in use and can't even think about downloading a torrent.

I want to build a PC with off the shelf parts to run PSSence though I am open to other suggestions. I have never used BSD and to be quite honest I am not all that up to date on Internet security measures. But I learn best hands on so I am sure I will figure it out.

The problem I have right now is I am a bit overwhelmed by trying to select the hardware for this. I don't really want to spend money on something and find out it wont work. I also want to ensure the system I build can handle any and all future planed and even unplanned expansions of my home network with ease. I suspect that my needs now and in to the future really aren't all that demanding so this should be easy.

Ok so on to my network as it exists right now and where I want it to go with this upgrade. For Internet connection I have DSL while waiting on FIOS. I have no need for wireless so everything is hardwired. I am sill operating on 10/100 hardware but I would like to upgrade to gigabit. I have 2 primary computers used for web surfing and gaming. I have another box I used to download torrents and sees a bit of double duty as a NAS but that will probably be changing a bit since I have plans to introduce a WHS system for backups and networked storage. I also have a Mac and Linux system that will be on the network. I also need the ability to connect up to 3 random computers, these would be repairs for family and friends. I would also like them to operate on a heavily restricted access level for safety. Other then that I would just like to be able to either 2 HTPC or media extenders when I get around to upgrading my TV's. A VPN to access my network when away from home and maybe a small dynamic DNS FTP / web server for personal use.

So to sum that up.

Right now:
DSL connection
10/100 router and network
4x personal computers (2x windows, 1 nix, 1 Mac)
1x torrent box / NAS
up to 3 random computers being repaired.

Future:
FIOS
10/100/100 network
4x personal computers, same as above
1x torrent box
WHS for backup and NAS
up to 3 random computers being repaired, hopefully with heavily restricted LAN and WAN access.
VPN
Small personal dynamic DNS, FTP and web server.
2x HTPC or media extenders

I am open to suggestions for hardware but for compatibility and reliability I am inclined to go lintel whenever possible for this build. What I am looking at right now is a Celeron 430 1.8GHz, 35wm about $40. I know it's totally overkill but once I have a better understanding of PFSence and what I actually need, I hope to move to an embedded system and then I can use the Celeron system for something else.

But sadly this is where I get stuck. So many options for motherboards to pair with that chip and I am still rather unsure what is supported. I am not against going with a full ATX board since I have spare cases and like I said this is really only going to end up being a temporary PFSence box that will get re-purposed. It also doesn't help that I can't even seem to figure out how many network connections this box will actually need to do what I want.

So I am off to see how current BSD support of Intel chip sets is. While I am looking at that I was hoping some of you could help me out with advice on how best to wire things up for my needs and what I will need as far as NIC's and switches. I am trying to search around the net to figure this out but my current networks reliability is not helping. Once I have the hardware and my 2 primary computers up and running with a reliable network I am sure I will be able to work the rest out much easier.

Thanks in advance for any help and advice.
Tom
 
TGA said:
I have been looking to update my home network for a year now and keep putting it off. Meanwhile things are starting to get really bad. I had been using an SMC barricade router for a few years expect it didn't seem to be powerful enough to handle SPI but with it off the thing was great and reliable. But it has since died and I just garbed a cheap wired router to hold me over until I figured out what to do. But this POS can't seven handle Internet use for more then one PC. I get web pages timing out left and right when more then on PC is in use and can't even think about downloading a torrent.

I want to build a PC with off the shelf parts to run PSSence though I am open to other suggestions. I have never used BSD and to be quite honest I am not all that up to date on Internet security measures. But I learn best hands on so I am sure I will figure it out.

The problem I have right now is I am a bit overwhelmed by trying to select the hardware for this. I don't really want to spend money on something and find out it wont work. I also want to ensure the system I build can handle any and all future planed and even unplanned expansions of my home network with ease. I suspect that my needs now and in to the future really aren't all that demanding so this should be easy.

Ok so on to my network as it exists right now and where I want it to go with this upgrade. For Internet connection I have DSL while waiting on FIOS. I have no need for wireless so everything is hardwired. I am sill operating on 10/100 hardware but I would like to upgrade to gigabit. I have 2 primary computers used for web surfing and gaming. I have another box I used to download torrents and sees a bit of double duty as a NAS but that will probably be changing a bit since I have plans to introduce a WHS system for backups and networked storage. I also have a Mac and Linux system that will be on the network. I also need the ability to connect up to 3 random computers, these would be repairs for family and friends. I would also like them to operate on a heavily restricted access level for safety. Other then that I would just like to be able to either 2 HTPC or media extenders when I get around to upgrading my TV's. A VPN to access my network when away from home and maybe a small dynamic DNS FTP / web server for personal use.

So to sum that up.

Right now:
DSL connection
10/100 router and network
4x personal computers (2x windows, 1 nix, 1 Mac)
1x torrent box / NAS
up to 3 random computers being repaired.

Future:
FIOS
10/100/100 network
4x personal computers, same as above
1x torrent box
WHS for backup and NAS
up to 3 random computers being repaired, hopefully with heavily restricted LAN and WAN access.
VPN
Small personal dynamic DNS, FTP and web server.
2x HTPC or media extenders

I am open to suggestions for hardware but for compatibility and reliability I am inclined to go lintel whenever possible for this build. What I am looking at right now is a Celeron 430 1.8GHz, 35wm about $40. I know it's totally overkill but once I have a better understanding of PFSence and what I actually need, I hope to move to an embedded system and then I can use the Celeron system for something else.

But sadly this is where I get stuck. So many options for motherboards to pair with that chip and I am still rather unsure what is supported. I am not against going with a full ATX board since I have spare cases and like I said this is really only going to end up being a temporary PFSence box that will get re-purposed. It also doesn't help that I can't even seem to figure out how many network connections this box will actually need to do what I want.

So I am off to see how current BSD support of Intel chip sets is. While I am looking at that I was hoping some of you could help me out with advice on how best to wire things up for my needs and what I will need as far as NIC's and switches. I am trying to search around the net to figure this out but my current networks reliability is not helping. Once I have the hardware and my 2 primary computers up and running with a reliable network I am sure I will be able to work the rest out much easier.

Thanks in advance for any help and advice.
Tom
Click to expand...

From the looks of this, just about any route you go hardware wise will be supported.

How I'd run everything is put 3 NICs in the system.

One for your incoming connection (red)
One for your trusted LAN (green)
One for your DMZ.

Put your main switch on your trusted LAN. This will dish out to your primary PCs, servers, HTPC, etc etc.

Put another switch on your DMZ, so you can work on the computers, without things hopping into your trusted network.

I'm not familiar with PFSense at all. I use Untangle at home, which is a Debian Linux based UTM (Unified Threat Management) distro. I have 3 wired NICs and 1 wireless NIC, doing exactly as suggested.

I'll let the others that have more experience with PFSense chime in with their ideas or concerns
 
I didn't really set a budget since I don't expect it to cost me all that much. I have a fair bit of spare parts laying around just no CPU's I feel are worth buying a board for thats why I chose the celeron. That said I do want to stick with hardware thats a good value since my network usage really isn't all that demanding. So no $200 nic cards and $500 switches.

I already have an 8 port SMC10/100 switch that I might use to start with and then upgrade to a gigabit switch later and move that SMC to use it for the computers I service.

I actually have an almost ITX Intel board model D845GVSH. It has a built in 1ghz Intel CPU with one 10/100 nic built in that I am sure would work for my WAN connection. However it has only one PCI slot so I would need to find a suitable nic that doesn't cost a fortune. Also no matter what hardware I use I plan to get an IDE to CF adapter since I don't want a hard drive in this system.

Oh and I chose PFSence since I was under the impression it had the better QoS support and that my network would benefit from it.
 
The more I think about it I am sure I have enough hardware laying around to test out PFSence on the Intel board I mentioned and at least get it up and running as a direct replacement for my current router.

I would still like to get a multi port nic card if anyone has any suggestions since I also need to order a IDE to CF adapter.

Once I get this up and running I am sure it will be a lot easier for me to figure out how to set it up for the other things I want.
 
Most of these distros will function on CPU's with peformance levels down to a 486, It doesn't take much. I ran IPCop (Linux) and m0nowall (BSD) on a old 1U P3 500 server with awesome performance.

Good quality NIC's are more important than your CPU. I prefer Intel NIC's myself, 3COM or any other hardware based NIC will be just as good.
 
Since you mention a torrent box, I'll wager you don't want that thing to choke your network. PFSense has some cool QoS/traffic shaping features that make it stand above the crowd. You can throttle down P2P traffic, and prioritize what you want...like VoIP, and gaming.

Additionally, it has a feature called the Penalty Box. You can cap total up and down traffic for an IP address..such as your torrent box.

Take an old P3 laptop, slap in a PCMCIA NIC, and using the onboard NIC..there's your 2 NICs. I use an old IBM Thinkpad T22 for my PFSense box. 256 megs of RAM, onboard Intel NIC, a Stinksys or DStink PCMCIA NIC (I forget which brand)...runs great. You can pickup older models like these for a hundge or so. Has a built in battery backup too. Low AC use, low heat, low noise, small footprint.

Pickup a gigabit basic managed switch....they're cheap enough these days. Setup port based VLANs....so you can have VLAN 2 for your "guests" that you don't want in your main LAN.

Quite simple, solid, and affordable.
 
YeOldeStonecat said:
Since you mention a torrent box, I'll wager you don't want that thing to choke your network. PFSense has some cool QoS/traffic shaping features that make it stand above the crowd. You can throttle down P2P traffic, and prioritize what you want...like VoIP, and gaming.

Additionally, it has a feature called the Penalty Box. You can cap total up and down traffic for an IP address..such as your torrent box.

Take an old P3 laptop, slap in a PCMCIA NIC, and using the onboard NIC..there's your 2 NICs. I use an old IBM Thinkpad T22 for my PFSense box. 256 megs of RAM, onboard Intel NIC, a Stinksys or DStink PCMCIA NIC (I forget which brand)...runs great. You can pickup older models like these for a hundge or so. Has a built in battery backup too. Low AC use, low heat, low noise, small footprint.

Pickup a gigabit basic managed switch....they're cheap enough these days. Setup port based VLANs....so you can have VLAN 2 for your "guests" that you don't want in your main LAN.

Quite simple, solid, and affordable.
Click to expand...

Thanks, it sounds like with VLANs I only need 2 nic's to get everything I want. Thats great assuming the built in nic on this Intel board is supported I should be able to pair it with of the old 3com nics I have floating around and be set.

If I remember correctly this Intel board is running a Pentium M at 1GHz with no L2 cache. So power usage should be quite reasonable.

Any suggestions for a specific switch?
 
I found an old laptop drive I forgot I had along with adapter and drive rails today. So I slapped some ram in the board and hooked it up along with an old CD drive.

I just let it boot from the CD but it seemed to detect everything installed. But the CD drive I used seemed to be dieing.

I still need to order a switch if anyone could offer up some advice I would appreciate it. Other then needing at least an 8port switch to get started I have no idea what to look for in the switch.

Edit:

Maybe this one? Price seems alright and I think supports everything I will need.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833316053

Edit #2

I also found this switch that is $100 and free shipping. Looks like It could do everything and anything I want.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833122203

Also been reading up on PFSense and the features a bit more. If I understand VLAN correctly I could actually get by with a single nic connected to the switch. And then everything including my DSL modem plugged right in to the switch with the modem set up on a VLAN. While not necessary for my needs I found it rather cool. Was even reading something where a guy setup something like 7 DSL connections each though it's own VLAN to get around the cost of a high speed business connection.

And yeah it's early Christmas morning but I am working on my Christmas present so it's ok.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top