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New Home Build - Help spend my money!

AndrewSerff

I'm trying to find good hardware setup for a new UTM Home build. I've never used Sophos UTM, but want to protect my home network and kids from the evils of the internet! ;) I've read about a 1000 threads with everyone recommending everything from NUCs to Desktops to 1U pizza boxes, but all of these recommendations are 1) old (it's 2016 guys!) and 2) build for different needs. What I would like to find is a general solution that I could just buy and recommend to family members and friends. Here my constraints:

Budget: I'd really like to stay under $300
Home connection: 50MB / 20MB
# Users: 2 adults, 2 kids
# devices: A mix of laptops, iOS devices, gaming consoles, and smart devices. I'd say we have probably have 20 devices online...
typical usage: We have no cable, so we stream everything. lots of netflix, hulu, amazon. Lots of general internet usage. Some online gaming (ps4, xbox, wii u, ios).

I can put the box in my basement, but would still like to consider lower power usage, and quieter operation.

I need web filtering first and foremost. I'd like IPS, VPN, and other features if possible. Everything I'm reading is pushing me towards a 3GHz i3 because of IPS.

I'd also like to not have to do this again (buy new hardware) for years if possible. So hardware with room to grow with both new Sophos capabilities and new technologies (like 4k streaming...much faster internet).

I'd love to just buy a Sophos box, but they seem so expensive and I don't want the subscription fee. I love to find a hardware solution I can just order from amazon, plug it in, and install Sophos UTM Home on it and be done as well, that's not looking very possible though which is bumming me out.

So, I know I'm probably asking for a unicorn...but let me know what is possible! Thanks for all your help!

P.S. as a side note, anything announced at CES right now would be awesome. dual nic NUC with fast processors for cheap?? Let me know if you see anything!



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  • 0

    I have encountered zero hardware issues with the following setup (it’s actually overkill):

    • $195.00 - HP 8200 Elite Small Form Factor
      •  Intel i5
      •  8GB RAM
      •  HDD 500GB 7200RPM SATA 3Gb/s 16 MB Cache 3.5

    •  $69.00 - NIC - Dell Broadcom BCM5709C Quad Port Gigabit Adapter P736R

    The CPU usage is almost non-existent and has never spiked above 6%.

    Throughput is really good. I get 58Mbps down and 12Mbps up on my 50/10 business cable connection. I use ESXi and host several websites, FTP server, remote support server and an email server that utilizes ActiveSync (separate box behind the UTM). I use the UTM’s VPN, network, email and webserver protection. It’s been rock solid for me.

    I have two of these. I got a really good deal on the second one which is currently in use. The original one is now my cold backup but it was put into service in 2013. Both were purchased used and were very reasonably priced. I believe I got the original one off of Craigslist. The Broadcom NIC has been great too. I encountered the e1000 reset issue with the original 4-port Intel NIC I purchased. I don’t know if that issue has been fixed or not so I’d stick with a Broadcom NIC unless someone on here can verify that the e1000 reset issue has been fixed.

    IMHO, you don’t need a SSD and 4GB of RAM is plenty. No, this is not server grade hardware and it’s not as small as those ATOM units but I’ll bet you these little jewels will hold up just fine over time and you can’t beat the price. Just another option for you if you have the space and you are willing to watch ebay and Craigslist for a couple of weeks to get a really good deal ;-)

    No one knows what the future holds for the Sophos UTM but I’m sticking with it till the wheels fall off. The Sophos XG Home slash Cyberoam whatever is not my cup of tea. Suggest you stick with the UTM. Unfortunately, the XG appears to be the future. I only hope they greatly improve upon it before the Sophos UTM reaches EOL.

    Cheers,

    Jeff

    --------------------------------------------------------------------
    Sophos UTM 9.714-4 - Home User
    Currently testing VM on i3-9100 @ 3.60 GHz
    16 GB RAM
    Dell Optiplex XE
    Intel Core 2 Duo CPU E8600 @ 3.33GHz
    8GB RAM
    --------------------------------------------------------------------

Reply
  • 0

    I have encountered zero hardware issues with the following setup (it’s actually overkill):

    • $195.00 - HP 8200 Elite Small Form Factor
      •  Intel i5
      •  8GB RAM
      •  HDD 500GB 7200RPM SATA 3Gb/s 16 MB Cache 3.5

    •  $69.00 - NIC - Dell Broadcom BCM5709C Quad Port Gigabit Adapter P736R

    The CPU usage is almost non-existent and has never spiked above 6%.

    Throughput is really good. I get 58Mbps down and 12Mbps up on my 50/10 business cable connection. I use ESXi and host several websites, FTP server, remote support server and an email server that utilizes ActiveSync (separate box behind the UTM). I use the UTM’s VPN, network, email and webserver protection. It’s been rock solid for me.

    I have two of these. I got a really good deal on the second one which is currently in use. The original one is now my cold backup but it was put into service in 2013. Both were purchased used and were very reasonably priced. I believe I got the original one off of Craigslist. The Broadcom NIC has been great too. I encountered the e1000 reset issue with the original 4-port Intel NIC I purchased. I don’t know if that issue has been fixed or not so I’d stick with a Broadcom NIC unless someone on here can verify that the e1000 reset issue has been fixed.

    IMHO, you don’t need a SSD and 4GB of RAM is plenty. No, this is not server grade hardware and it’s not as small as those ATOM units but I’ll bet you these little jewels will hold up just fine over time and you can’t beat the price. Just another option for you if you have the space and you are willing to watch ebay and Craigslist for a couple of weeks to get a really good deal ;-)

    No one knows what the future holds for the Sophos UTM but I’m sticking with it till the wheels fall off. The Sophos XG Home slash Cyberoam whatever is not my cup of tea. Suggest you stick with the UTM. Unfortunately, the XG appears to be the future. I only hope they greatly improve upon it before the Sophos UTM reaches EOL.

    Cheers,

    Jeff

    --------------------------------------------------------------------
    Sophos UTM 9.714-4 - Home User
    Currently testing VM on i3-9100 @ 3.60 GHz
    16 GB RAM
    Dell Optiplex XE
    Intel Core 2 Duo CPU E8600 @ 3.33GHz
    8GB RAM
    --------------------------------------------------------------------

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