On 6/16/06, Lee Sharp <leesharp at hal dash pc dot org> wrote:
>
> $399 plus expensive memory and a CF!

Expensive memory?  It's PC133, I don't know anybody that doesn't have
a stack of PC133 somewhere or some dead box with PC133 that can be
yanked.  Even if you have to buy it, it's practically free.



> http://www.directron.com/sc512l.html with
> http://www.directron.com/epia800.html

Have you actually performance tested that?  It also has extra junk I'd
rather not have on a firewall (sound, TV out, etc.).  You also need a
IDE to CF adapter for that, then you have to worry about which adapter
will work with the board, and which CF cards will work with that
adapter, etc.

For $200, on the project he's talking about, it isn't worth the
trouble.  $200 is nothing in the scheme of things.  You can quickly
burn up way more than that in time trying to muck around with a less
than ideal hacked together solution like that.

I recommended the Nehemiah based on significant testing I've done on
that particular unit (Hacom donated one to me for m0n0wall/pfsense
testing).  It'll push 100 Mb wire speed, with power to spare.  Plus,
it has the Padlock crypto accelerator that will be supported in 1.3.
And getting up and going is just a matter of plugging in the RAM and
CF and turning it on.

Yeah, there are solutions that are cheaper hardware-wise.  But
hardware cost is far from the only thing to consider in the cost of
the solution.

-Chris