Mars 1U Server pfSense Appliance

Mars pfSense Appliance. 1Ghz Celeron-M (optional 1.5Ghz Pentium-M) 1U server. Four (4) x 10/100M Realtek RTL8100C Fast Ethernet (optional Intel 82541 Gigabit Ethernet). Soekris VPN1411 VPN Hardware Accelerator. Stateful inspection firewall. 50-500 users. Up to 500,000 concurrent connections. 25-100 Mbps IPSec VPN throughputs.

pfSense is an open-source firewall distribution based on FreeBSD.

Features

  1. Short-Depth 1U 19" Rackmount Case. The form factor of the 1U server is about 19 inches by 8 inches by 1.7 inches in dimensions, weight about 10 lbs.
  2. Low power-consumption: 14-18W without a hard drive.
  3. Fanless system. Designed to run from a compact flash or SSD. It is recommended a system fan if used with a 2.5inch SATA laptop hard drive.
  4. High network throughput:
  5. Virtual LAN (VLAN):
    • No VLAN with the 10/100 Realtek RTL8100C Fast Ethernet.
    • 4092 VLANs (802.1q) with the Intel 82541 Gigabit Ethernet.

Suggested Deployment

  1. Corporate Firewall for Enterprise or Small and Medium Business (SMB).
    • Load balacing with multi-Wan for aggregration of Internet bandwidth.
  2. VPN server for branch offices or main office/corporate headquarter:
    • Supporting IPSec, SSL-based OpenVPN, PPTP.
    • 39-59 Mbps Blowfish IPSec VPN throughput between pfSense/M0n0wall/IPCop VPN servers.
    • 36-54 Mbps AES-256 IPSec VPN or 25-38 Mbps 3DES IPSec VPN (77-100 Mbps with the optional Soekris VPN1411) with commercial Cisco/Checkpoint/Juniper VPN servers.
  3. Intrusion Detection System (IDS) and Intrusion Protection System (IPS).
    • With the addition of the Snort package. Recommended to be used only with the hard-drive or SSD-based pfSense appliance.
  4. Web filtering and content control.
    • With the addition of the Squidguard package. Recommended to be used only with the hard-drive or SSD-based pfSense appliance.
  5. Failover or Hardware Redundancy (CARP) (http://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/Configuring_pfSense_Hardware_Redundancy_(CARP)).
  6. The 1U rackmount Mars pfSense Appliance is also an ideal hotspot solution to be deployed in a broadband-enabled environment such as hotels, coffee shops, school, campus, libraries, and conference facilities.
  7. Another common deployment is the perimeter enterprise firewall, with the addition of the BGP package.

Support and Warranty

  1. One (1) year industry standard warranty. A single contact for both hardware and software issues.
  2. Depend on the maintenance options, we will walk you through the initial VPN server setup to configuration of multi-wan load balancing and failover
Price: $689.99
$689.99
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SKU: RM1U PFCI852A4
Specifications
Performance* Mars Highlights
Suggested Users 50-500 (1Ghz Celeron-M)

Stateful Inspection Firewall enforces security policies and resists malicious attacks.

Easy configuration, security management and monitoring of network infrastructure.

Network Address Translation (NAT) protects and hides internal network information from the outside world.

VPN offers significant savings over leased connections between branches or remote offices.

Mulit-WAN load balancing optimizes usages of internet resources.

Failover provides reliable and un-interrupted internet connectivities.
Firewall Throughput 85Mbps (10/100 Ethernet)/
630Mbps (Gigabit Ethernet)
Concurrent Connections

500,000 (1GB RAM)
3DES IPSec Throughput 65Mbps (1Ghz Celeron-M)/
100Mbps (1.5Ghz Pentium-M)
AES IPSec Throughput 65Mbps (1Ghz Celeron-M)/
100Mbps (1.5Ghz Pentium-M)
BF-CBC OpenVPN Throughput 33Mbps (1Ghz Celeron-M)
Hardware Specifications Mars
Systemboard CI852A
CPU 1Ghz Celeron-M
(Optional 1.5Ghz Pentium-M)
Memory 1GB
Storage 2GB CF
Ethernet 4 x 10M/100M
(Optional Intel Gigabit Ethernet)
VPN Hardware Accelerator Soekris VPN1411
Cooling  Fanless (1Ghz Celeron-M)
Fanned (1.5Ghz Pentium-M)
Hardware Warranty  1-year limited
Support Contract Mars
Standard Support  1-year

* Performance depends on network environment and configuration of the firewall.

Performance and Cost Comparison?

Since pfSense appliances have been used as firewalls and Internet routers, it is only fair to compare against Cisco products. We have chosen VPN performance to see how the Mars pfSense appliances stack up.

Router Mars Celeron-M Mars Pentium-M Cisco 2811 ASA 5510
AES IPSec 65Mbps1,2 100Mbps1,2 22 Mbps1
35 Mbps3		 66 Mbps1
170 Mbps3
3DES IPSec 65Mbps1,2 100Mbps1,2 66 Mbps1
170 Mbps3		 66 Mbps1
170 Mbps3
Failover Supported Active/Standby5  Active/Standby5 - Active/Standby Active/Active
CPU Speed 1Ghz Celeron-M 1.5Ghz Pentium-M 350Mhz RM5261A 2.0Ghz Pentium-4
Power Consumption 14W 18W unknown unknown
Cost $690 $840 $2,2794 $2,181

Notes:

1As measured by iperf.
2With the optional Soekris VPN1411 VPN Hardware Accelerator
3As reported in Cisco Sales Literature and Documentation. (Cisco Router Performance data come from here.)
4Cisco router cost includes the IOS Security Bundle (SEC/K9) and are typical found on the Internet.

5Detail CARP configuration is discussed at http://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/Configuring_pfSense_Hardware_Redundancy_(CARP). Active-active configuration is not possible at this time.