[geeks] IPCop and pfSense...

[Lionel Peterson]

>From: Nate <nate at portents.com>
>Date: 2008/04/17 Thu PM 08:54:45 CDT
>To: The Geeks List <geeks at sunhelp.org>
>Subject: Re: [geeks] IPCop and pfSense...

>> That's $100 + CPU + RAM + boot media (Optical/HD/etc.)
>>
>> Why not the Intel Little Valley board (D201GLY2) - it has a nice  
>> Conroe Celeron CPU (1.5 GHz), SATA HD, takes 2 Gigs of DDR2 RAM,  
>> has a PCi slot and gobs of USB ports. After the purchase of the  
>> board and RAM you will get change back from a hundred dollar bill -  
>> add a case (*any* case will do) and you've got a great little box  
>> for such an application...
>
>I have the E2160 and two 1GB sticks of RAM lying around, and I  
>figured why not?

In deed - a fine reason to use them...

>The D201GLY2 is kind of tempting, and I've thought about it,  
>specifically in combination with the Apex MI-100 case, which is only  
>$55 and comes with a 250W power supply:
>
>http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811154084

Neat little case - I like the D201GLY2 MB/CPU combo, but it isn't the be-all, end-all for low-cost MBs (it just is so right for so many differnet little appllications, IMHO).

>However, wifi would have to be external USB, and I'd prefer to have  
>as much inside the case as possible, and I thought the extra  
>performance (dual-core) and memory bandwidth (dual channel) of the  
>Shuttle KPC would come in handy.

Just a thought, but aren't you like, one hole in the chassis away from being able to use the ASUS USB WiFi adapter on the Intem MB (or any MB for that matter)? Also, an external USB adapter would likely have a 3 foot USB extension cable, allowing you to place the antenna away from your equipment rack/stack/pile for better coverage...

>>> http://www.startech.com/item/SAT2CF-SATA-to-Compact-Flash- 
>>> Adapter.aspx
>>
>> WOW - $50? IDE -> CF adapters are under $15 these days...
>
>I'm not a fan of PATA cabling, but it's true, those adapters are a  
>lot cheaper.

There are units that stick right in the IDC scoket on the MB, which means *no* cabling.

>> Heck, USB memory sticks are *real cheap) - 8 Gigs for $25 at  
>> microcenter.com - just add a jumper to go from MB header to USB  
>> female and a zip tie to hold it in place...
>
>A USB memory stick would also rule out pfSense... at least based on  
>what I read, there's no USB mass storage support in pfSense.

Odd, but that's outside my area of experience, so I defer to you (I was really just pointing out that you can jump off an internal USB port and keep a "typical" USB flash "thumb drive" inside the case.

Lionel