Help with pfsense build

[kr0490]

Can anyone recommend a small pc with a newer intel processor and 2 pic slots. I am looking for something the size of a shuttle pc or smaller to use for my pfsense build I can throw on top of a switch. Any recommendations?

 

[kanewolf]

Why does it HAVE to have two PCI slots? You can get ethernet cards that are dual and quad port. You can use the integrated GPU. One slot would be enough.

 

[kr0490]

It doesn't I guess, but I was thinking of possibly doing a fiber card and a gigabit eth card, but technically I could just do fiber since my switches support sfp. So if one with a single pci is found would probably work.

 

[kr0490]

Also anyone recommend a good 4 port low profile Nic? It needs to have full gig throughput on all ports.

 

[kanewolf]

Four port card will be a full height card. Especially if you want SFP. Intel is always the safe bet for a NIC card.

 

[kr0490]

I have found several low profile 4 port nic cards, they just range from 30 to 400 dollars and not sure which to get.

 

[kanewolf]

As I said Intel is a safe bet. There are Intel 350 quad port RJ45 NICs on Ebay for about $50. 4 port SFP NICs are about $150 plus SFPs.

 

[kr0490]

I found a 350 on eBay and bought it, what do you think about this pc for pfsense? Shuttle XPC Cube SZ170R8V2, SFF Intel Skylake Z170 Chipset LGA1151 i3/i5/i7/Pentium, DDR4 (MAX. 64GB), ICE 2 Cooling Heatpipe https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01K1JTMBM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_Ten8zb2VEXD8R

 

[kanewolf]

I built a couple Shuttle boxes many years ago. They were acceptable. Seemed fairly reliable.