On Fri, 16 Jun 2006 11:57:06 -0400
  "Chris Buechler" <cbuechler at gmail dot com> wrote:
> 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.

In your closet or used it is cheap/free.  On that site, 128meg was 
$40!  The memory THEY have is expensive.

>> 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.

I have not benchmarked it, but I have used several, and they have yet 
to peg CPU.  All of the extras can be turned off in the BIOS, which I 
do on any system, and they support the Transcend IDE CF module that I 
love so much. (Under $20) I have one like that right now with a cheap 
RealTek nic pounding away under heavy load with VPN.  No problems at 
all.

>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.

A very good point.  That was why I was less inclined to support it 
when I did not see m0n0wall as a preloaded OS.  I would recommend 
paying a premium for support, but it looked unsupported.  If you have 
to support it yourself, go cheaper... :-)

> 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.

So why is only linux in the dropdown?  They know about m0n0wall... 
 Anyway, I was mainly pointing out another cheaper configuration that 
I know works well.  However, I have not actually benchmarked it.  Do 
you have a benchmark HOWTO somewhere?  I would love to throughly test 
some of the hardware we have out there.  Plus a standadr for 
benchmarking would allow everyone to do it.  Could be a lot of good 
information fast.

> 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.

My favorite phrase is "There is nothing more expensive that a cheap 
fix."  However, there is no reason to may more for the same stuff.  It 
is a fine line, and takes a lot of knowledge to tell the difference 
sometimes.

                         Lee