On Fri, 2008-07-25 at 18:23 +1200, Chris Hellyar wrote: > Still, I think the Alix boards are a better solution for > routers/firewalls than a mini-ITX platform. Cheaper total solution if > buying new (inc. case etc), smaller, no cooling fan needed, lower power, > three nic's inbuilt. > > I'm going to move my pfsense firewall onto one in a few weeks, and if > that goes OK my asterisk setup is next, then the world!!!! (Insert > Demonic laugh here...)
My choice has always been Soekris boxes - the net4501 consumes about 5W under low-to-medium load, is very small, and you get a 3.3V PCI slot, miniPCI slot, and CF socket, plus 3 10/100 Ethernet NICs. Fanless, and can operate up to 60 deg C. Some would say 133MHz 486-class Geode and 64MB of RAM is too little, but I've managed sustained 17Mbit/s through one running OpenBSD, using pf for firewalling and NAT. That's plenty for most of NZ's current home broadband speeds :) Only downside is, they're a little pricey. Direct from Soekris they're US$173 in a case, or US$148 as a naked board. -Jasper
