network appliance

[Vlad]

        I'm going to assume that you want A Real Appliance(tm), since
we're talking about VPNs. (Before the flame war starts, for the
purposes of this discussion FreeS/WAN / OpenS/WAN / whatever it's
called now does NOT count.)

        I recommend one of the following, depending on needs:

* Juniper NetScreen 5GT 10U - can do 10 VPN tunnels, with the
throughput being up to 20Mbps 3DES/AES. (~US$350 for a used one, or
US$425 for a new one. About twice that for an unlimited user (read:
MIPs) version.) It can even handle 10 VLANs, in Trust/Untrust mode.

* Cisco PIX 501 10U - same number of tunnels, but throughput is much
lower: 3Mbps for 3DES, and 4.5Mbps for AES. Same costs, but crappier
software, IMHO.

* Cisco 800 Series router. You can even get one with something like an
ADSL WIC built-in, to use as an edge device; grab an IP Security IOS
bundle for it, and you're set. Costs will vary, but still under 1k.

        There's other options, too: WatchGuard and SofaWare at Home
(embedded CheckPoint) are supposedly decent. Maybe try SonicWall or
FortiNet FortiGate (if you don't mind that they've been sued for
infringing the GPL).

        I'm open to suggestions, of course. I've had the pleasure of
working with dozens of NetScreens in one environment, and almost a
hundred PIXen in another.

        Cheers,

        -- Vlad

On 4/12/06, William O'Higgins Witteman <william.ohiggins-H217xnMUJC0sA/PxXw9srA at public.gmane.org> wrote:
> On Tue, Apr 11, 2006 at 02:53:29PM -0400, Dave Cramer wrote:
> >Anyone have a recommendation for a very small network appliance,
> >something under 1k with a few network ports. I want to make a
> >dedicated VPN out of it.
>
> Just yesterday on the Debian Weekly News I something that might work for
> you - the Linksys NSLU2.  Here's a place describing how to get Debian on
> it:
> http://www.cyrius.com/journal/debian/beta2-nslu2
>
> Here's the product description:
> http://www1.linksys.com/products/product.asp?prid=640
>
> And here's a local store with one for sale of $91:
> http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=004999&cid=990.434
>
> Hope that helps :-)
>
> Let us know how you do.
> --
>
> yours,
>
> William
>
>
>
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