Proliant DL360 G7 paired with pfSense offers a secure and efficient networking solution.
Proliant DL360 G7 paired with pfSense offers a secure and efficient networking solution.
I possess an HP ProLiant DL360 G7 4b Server equipped with 12 cores, 32 GB RAM, and four LAN ports. My intention is to deploy fiber optic connectivity throughout my home for the fastest possible network. I also plan to run a movie server using four DIY NAS units and other devices. I have a Samsung 860 EVO 500GB SSD that I intend to install with pfSense. My main concern is whether running a virtual machine on this server to host pfSense will be feasible. Although the server was originally intended for a different use, it appears to be well-suited as an overpowered router. It currently supports a few game servers and a web server. A friend who works for Spectrum has provided the necessary cables and connectors. I’m uncertain about using an always-on VM for pfSense, especially regarding download caching and plugin functionality. My aim is to create multiple subnets to separate my PCs, smartphones, and streaming devices from the Wi-Fi network. However, this effort would be pointless if the virtual machine fails. Please forgive any confusion; I’m just getting started with networking and this project is part of a home setup during a stay-at-home order. Any advice, guides, or video recommendations would be greatly appreciated. I’ve watched numerous YouTube setup tutorials and read extensively, but none addressed running a VM for pfSense. My goal is to allocate 400 GB of storage and 4 GB RAM in VirtualBox for this purpose.
Running PFSense inside a VM works easily as long as you use a reliable hypervisor that supports all network adapters.
Oracle VirtualBox is the program I intend to use. If it's a hypervisor, otherwise the main operating system will likely be FreeNAS unless that creates a problem.
Are you setting up Windows first, then adding VirtualBox, and finally installing pfsense? It would be more logical to start with a Hypervisor like VMware ESXi or Proxmox, and then use Container Systems such as pfsense, Linux, and Windows. For a server setup this approach lets you launch more virtual machines if needed, like a Pihole or similar services. You’ll also be able to merge four NAS systems into just one or two.
I have four distinct NAS systems for a specific reason. I’m confident my clients wouldn’t appreciate it if I accidentally deleted one of the other NAS drives, losing all their files or if my children accessed their information. Each system is on its own NAS setup, which I can only connect to for a specific purpose. FreeNAS will serve as the base operating system since this server is part of my personal NAS configuration. Then I’ll add the Virtual Box plugin to run the pfSense box, ensuring it always boots up.
Segmentation remains possible within a combined box. The description seems unclear, but you're planning to run VMware PFSense for protection on Freenas.
It will be included in the nas network. I don’t have another machine, and I can’t afford to buy one right now since I lost my job due to the pandemic. Would it make sense to set up an OS like Ubuntu Server and run several virtual machines for the free nas and the nas box? I have an old laptop, but it doesn’t meet the requirements for FreeNAS or even PFense because it started with Windows XP.