This forum is dedicated to the general computer related issues we all come across on a daily basis, such as e-mail/Internet/Operating System/virus/spyware, etc questions & problems.
As we are primarily a radio discussion group, your mileage may vary on the responses.
That's an awful lot of tasks for one system to handle. Besides the possible performance issues, you're also concentrating everything into a single point of failure. Not a good idea. If the system goes down, everything you have goes out.
First and foremost: If you're serious about putting in a router, you would do well to get a box that's purpose-built for doing just that as well as being a firewall. Zyxel makes a number of nice ones, and even Watchguard has some inexpensive SOHO router/firewalls that have quite a bit of bang for the $$. This way you can lose part or all of your server side but your 'net connection will still work (which could be a big advantage if you have to download something to fix the problem).
Another advantage of having a dedicated router/firewall is that they don't usually use hard drives. No moving parts to fail, outside of the odd fan or three. Personally, I've been using either Zyxel's 'Prestige' units or Watchguard Fireboxes for years. The only problem I ever had was a failed Ethernet port.
I would put the duties of traffic monitor (you're essentially talking about a sniffer -- the program Wireshark is a good one for that, and it's free), content filter (the open-source proxy 'Squid' will probably do well in that app) and RADIUS server (try OpenRADIUS) on one box, and your web server on still another. This means you'll need to go shopping for a second server, but no worries... The G2 Proliants, including the DL360's, are getting pretty easy to find at reasonable prices.
Happy tweaking.
Bruce Lane, KC7GR
"Raf tras spintern. Raf tras spoit."
As someone who used to have a similar setup (test lab of about 15 computers, lots of open source stuff, etc.), unless you've got a whole lot of free time on your hands, it'll eventually fall to disarray. Also, those DL360s are going to draw quite a bit of power (get a Kill-a-Watt and check it - you'll be surprised what it costs to run one "real" server). Don't forget that about 99% of that power going in will get converted to heat... what does a ton or two of AC cost per year?
At the new place, I went with simple. It's paid for itself.
Firewall: Cisco ASA5505 unlimited-user license. Runs the exact same firmware as the big 5520s/5540s that I have in the data center (and that cost $20K+), just less throughput. Handles multiple VLANs, giving you one for your wireless hotspot that is completely isolated from your internal. Real VPN access. Oh, and it's a fanless box measuring about 8x8x3 that consumes about 1/4 the power of your average desktop, much less a server.
Servers: Since my home stuff isn't absolutely mission critical, I picked up a few HP/Compaq D830(?) small-form-factor computers from eBay. These are simple little boxes - P4/2.4, couple gig ram, single HDD, and not much bigger than the ASA. I paid less than $200/ea. for them.
Storage: I wanted some redundancy, and something accessible from all machines on the network. Also, cool-running and small was a factor. Enter the D-Link DNS-323, a "bring-your-own-HDD" NAS box. It runs a customized version of Linux (you can actually hack it to make it a web server/NFS server/etc. too), and has two SATA bays. Mine's filled with two 1TB drives - the drives get formatted ext2 by the box and RAIDed using mdadm. This is a bit nicer than proprietary RAID - if something does happen to the device itself, I can yank a drive and mount it in any garden-variety Linux box. It will handle about 18MB/sec. through it's gig-e interface to the drives, which is quick enough for me.
All said and done, I spent about $1500. It'll pay for itself within a year thanks to low heat generation and low power consumption. And it fits on a corner of my credenza, rather than requiring a 4' shelf stacked multiple levels deep with a mess of cabling behind.
