Our Idea of an Ideal Untangle Box

[YeOldeStonecat]

With all that time spent typing out a hamburger essay, you could have spent the 30 seconds to realize that Jetway Motherboards and products are Industrial Grade.

More then likely you own several items, including your car, that was manufactured thanks to a Jetway. If you ever go out to Vegas, 99% chance the slot machine you are playing on uses a Jetway. What about the ATM? probably.

Thank you for the input on various other parts though.

I prefer ground buffalo meat over hamburger (with a Guinness...or ten! )....but instead of assuming it's an attack on Jetway (I'm quite familiar with Jetway...I've been in the small business network consulting business for many years..and built/repair computers consisting of about every name brand out there).....the topic of the thread was surrounding the ideas towards a good Untangle box...of which I wished to add my points. Although granted...I'm not fond of Jetway. Part of my point consisted of sticking with mainstream business computers because of "compatibility"...instead of struggling through won't it install...just enjoy having it installed and running quickly.

[Rick@BBM]

Ok, then you should know that Jetway boards are 100% linux compatible. I just replaced my failing overheated sonicwall with one of these this morning in 30mins from scratch. Put the CD in, follow the wizard, and done.... and now our network is truely gigabit from the router/switch/pc's.

I'm not nutswinging Jetway, but their sole purpose in life is for applications like Untangle. If I had to install one in a large network, I would of course use an intel ITX C2D solution in a 1U ITX rackmount. Still cheaper then a TZ190 and works alot better. If a client needs more ports, of course you can install a daughterboard and more NIC's.

[sky-knight]

Or just call trendnet and snag a 24 +2 unmanaged switch which retails around $200 and is basically the same darn switch that is shipped in the Sonicwall. There's a managed version if you're so inclined that can team the 2 gig ports.

In any case I also wanted to back Jetway, their consumer products really suck. But, when it comes down to a simple hardware platform for integrated electronics they basically build everything that is out there. The quality of their micro-itx hardware is much better than any thing in their ATX product catalog.

[bigdessert]

Or just call trendnet and snag a 24 +2 unmanaged switch which retails around $200 and is basically the same darn switch that is shipped in the Sonicwall. There's a managed version if you're so inclined that can team the 2 gig ports.

In any case I also wanted to back Jetway, their consumer products really suck. But, when it comes down to a simple hardware platform for integrated electronics they basically build everything that is out there. The quality of their micro-itx hardware is much better than any thing in their ATX product catalog.

are you saying that this switch can be used to install untangle????

[Rick@BBM]

Sonicwalls are overpriced pieces of crap. Untangle finally replaced our TZ170 in our own office. That thing was so slow.

Software gateways is the future, why pay $1200 for an intergrated box anymore. Build one for half that, that can do 10x more.

[YeOldeStonecat]

Sonicwalls are overpriced pieces of crap. Untangle finally replaced our TZ170 in our own office. That thing was so slow.

IMO they are good solid units. It's not a fair comparison here..a UTM box such as Untangle..against the small TZ170 units..that model being designed for small branch offices 'n SOHO networks. To compare against Untangle...you'd want to look starting at the Pro line..and up to the NSA and E series...they can bang out over 1 gig of throughput.

However I'm not fond of their support...not going to sell anymore...difficult to deal with, pricey, unfortunately their business model is really to be supported through their reseller channels..Gold Partners.

I have quite a few of my older clients on Sonicwall boxes....however over the past 2 years..I've moved my VPN needs to Juniper...equal if not better hardware than Sonicwall...and far superior support..local in the States.

[mmccaghrey]

This design looks great. I have priced it up for UK and can source it all from one store. I'm going to ask a daft question though (forgive me I'm a newbie). How do you install Untangle if there is no CDROM drive?

[sky-knight]

Sonicwalls are the bane of my existence. The VPN product is flaky at best and their support doesn't just suck, it's useless. I'm pretty sure I know more about the BSD installation they run on then half their engineers.

Juniper is good... I haven't used their products personally yet but any company that gets dropped in as the main router of choice by my cable company and provides the performance I'm getting is making a good router.

As for my previous comment no I'm not saying you can install UT on a switch. I'm saying if you need a cheap and good 24 port switch look give the Trendnet a shot.

[Rick@BBM]

I love junipers, theres alot of situations where there is no replacement for one.

As far as no cdrom? Take the side of the case off with 2 screws and plug in a SATA.... or usb.

[tfunky]

Any pointers on to where to find that hardware as inexpensively as in the jpg? The cheapest I can seem to find the MB is $89, not $39!