From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Wed Apr 27 14:42:11 2011 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id F38DB1065670 for ; Wed, 27 Apr 2011 14:42:10 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from jkikpole@cairodurham.org) Received: from na3sys009aog110.obsmtp.com (na3sys009aog110.obsmtp.com [74.125.149.203]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 78ECF8FC1E for ; Wed, 27 Apr 2011 14:42:10 +0000 (UTC) Received: from mail-yi0-f44.google.com ([209.85.218.44]) (using TLSv1) by na3sys009aob110.postini.com ([74.125.148.12]) with SMTP ID DSNKTbgrQGtCCQJBvBQKWzlbO9dZH574g0r8@postini.com; Wed, 27 Apr 2011 07:42:10 PDT Received: by yic13 with SMTP id 13so645548yic.3 for ; Wed, 27 Apr 2011 07:42:08 -0700 (PDT) MIME-Version: 1.0 Received: by 10.236.176.166 with SMTP id b26mr2807722yhm.142.1303915327888; Wed, 27 Apr 2011 07:42:07 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.147.136.18 with HTTP; Wed, 27 Apr 2011 07:42:07 -0700 (PDT) In-Reply-To: References: Date: Wed, 27 Apr 2011 10:42:07 -0400 Message-ID: From: Jaime Kikpole To: Nathan Vidican Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Hardware suggestions X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 27 Apr 2011 14:42:11 -0000 My thanks to everyone for their replies. I guess that I wasn't specific enough about my needs, though. I don't need a tiny chassis. In fact, I need a proxy for around 750-900 computers, so an Atom system or the like wouldn't work for me. I just have no rack space left. Fortunately, I might have found a way around this. So if you have any pre-built servers to recommend, I'd greatly appreciate it. For example, I'm currently reviewing the Dell PowerEdge T310's specs. Nate: Thanks. I read the handbook's entry on CARP last night. It looks easier than I had previously thought. I've started setting up a VMware environment of 2 FreeBSD systems and a unix desktop to try it out as a way to build a fail-over proxy. Looks like I'd have to stop using my current "in-line" design, though. Currently, I have a FreeBSD box between my network as a whole and the Internet connection. It acts as a router, a firewall, and a transparent proxy. CARP would require the system to not be "in-line," because a failed system would mean no router. Did I understand that correctly? Thanks to all, Jaime -- Network Administrator Cairo-Durham Central School District http://cns.cairodurham.org