From owner-freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Thu Jan 24 20:58:21 2019 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@mailman.ysv.freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2610:1c1:1:606c::19:1]) by mailman.ysv.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id B6C7614BE487 for ; Thu, 24 Jan 2019 20:58:21 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from louisk@cryptomonkeys.org) Received: from mailman.ysv.freebsd.org (mailman.ysv.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:1900:2254:206a::50:5]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id C1FB786C85 for ; Thu, 24 Jan 2019 20:58:20 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from louisk@cryptomonkeys.org) Received: by mailman.ysv.freebsd.org (Postfix) id 7F4E114BE486; Thu, 24 Jan 2019 20:58:20 +0000 (UTC) Delivered-To: questions@mailman.ysv.freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2610:1c1:1:606c::19:1]) by mailman.ysv.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 4495A14BE485 for ; Thu, 24 Jan 2019 20:58:20 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from louisk@cryptomonkeys.org) Received: from mail.cryptomonkeys.com (mail.cryptomonkeys.com [206.189.203.84]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 (256/256 bits)) (Client did not present a certificate) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id DEC1886C84 for ; Thu, 24 Jan 2019 20:58:19 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from louisk@cryptomonkeys.org) Received: from mail.cryptomonkeys.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by mail.cryptomonkeys.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 99A367592E; Thu, 24 Jan 2019 20:57:41 +0000 (UTC) Received: from mail.cryptomonkeys.com ([127.0.0.1]) by mail.cryptomonkeys.com (mail.cryptomonkeys.com [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with ESMTP id aQZFMd8xgS5S; Thu, 24 Jan 2019 20:57:35 +0000 (UTC) Received: from [IPv6:2001:550:6600::42:6709] (unknown [IPv6:2001:550:6600::42:6709]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by mail.cryptomonkeys.com (Postfix) with ESMTPSA id 129B775945; Thu, 24 Jan 2019 20:57:34 +0000 (UTC) From: Louis Kowolowski Message-Id: <82D113C6-EC50-40D6-B341-21B9D91205D2@cryptomonkeys.org> Mime-Version: 1.0 (Mac OS X Mail 12.2 \(3445.102.3\)) Subject: Re: Building a FreeBSD switch with commodity hardware Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2019 14:57:34 -0600 In-Reply-To: Cc: questions@freebsd.org To: Simon Connah References: X-Rspamd-Queue-Id: DEC1886C84 X-Spamd-Bar: ------ Authentication-Results: mx1.freebsd.org X-Spamd-Result: default: False [-6.98 / 15.00]; NEURAL_HAM_MEDIUM(-1.00)[-1.000,0]; NEURAL_HAM_SHORT(-0.98)[-0.981,0]; REPLY(-4.00)[]; NEURAL_HAM_LONG(-1.00)[-1.000,0] Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.29 X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.29 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2019 20:58:22 -0000 I think you'll see better performance if you go with an actual network = device. If you don't need something that is under contract, something = like a juniper ex4200 can be had on ebay for ~$100. 24/48 1g ports. = supports vlans, ipv6 just fine. also has firewall capabilities, but = they're not stateful.=20 If you want to hook 2 layer 2 networks together, you'll need a router. = If you just want to make the layer 2 network bigger, you can get another = switch. If you cascade too many switches, you'll find performance goes = down, not to mention single points of failure and/or bottlenecks in = performance. > On Jan 24, 2019, at 2:39 PM, Simon Connah = wrote: >=20 > Hi everyone, >=20 > First of all I am not a networking wizard so would appreciate a little = help to see if my plan is achievable. >=20 > I need a 1U switch to put in a datacentre and due to my familiarity = with FreeBSD I thought building a switch based on FreeBSD would be the = perfect solution but I'm not sure what the hardware requirements would = be. I have 10 to 20 1gbps Ethernet devices to connect to the switch and = a single 1gbps uplink to the rest of the internet. >=20 > I'd like to be able to configure VLANs, allocate IPv4 and IPv6 = addresses to individual machines and use FreeBSD as a firewall for the = whole process. I also want to be able to expand my system at a later = date if I need to be able to handle more devices on the local network so = I'd need to be able to hook the two networks together somehow. >=20 > What I'm not sure about is what hardware specs I'll need for this. = What kind of CPU and RAM will I require and which Ethernet cards should = I get? This is not a project that requires 100% up time but realiability = is important during certain hours of the day. >=20 > I'd appreciate some advice. If you need any more information then let = me know and I'll try and provide it. >=20 > _______________________________________________ > freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list > https://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions > To unsubscribe, send any mail to = "freebsd-questions-unsubscribe@freebsd.org" -- Louis Kowolowski louisk@cryptomonkeys.org = Cryptomonkeys: = http://www.cryptomonkeys.com/ Making life more interesting for people since 1977