Looking for hardware for custom router setup running Linux

[yongyung]

Hey guys (and ladies), I'm looking for hardware ideas for a custom router. Basically all I want is a small, fanless and cheap x86/64 machine I can install Linux on to be my router for under $150. Maybe something similar to this Intel compute stick coming out this year. But the router is supposed to do some fancy stuff: It will be connected to two internet connections (a 100mbit one and a 16mbit one), and I want it to route tcp/udp packets over different connections depending on the port. I also want it to route certain packets through a VPN service depending on the port; additionally it should run some custom software which will scan every packet and just drop it if it fits certain criteria. The router won't be connected to a huge network, only to about 5-10 devices. But(!), all this shouldn't introduce any latency on the network, +1ms would be just about acceptable, +2ms is basically already too much and everything above that is out of discussion. I'm not sure if hardware like that already exists, that's why I'm asking here. Technology wise it shouldn't be a problem imo, again looking at the Intel compute stick it basically has a USB powered full fledged atom CPU, but the use case might be a bit special. (e.g. the need for a half decent ethernet connection)

Edit: Fanless is actually not necessarily a requirement, it should just use very little power, don't produce a lot of heat and be very quiet... which usually means fanless.

 

[yinan]

Cannot do it for that price. You would need to look at the Intel NUC type devices which are more expensive.

 

[Emulex]

You'd need something with several nic ports - unless you have a switch that can handle vlan's. Might as well run dual-wan on DD-WRT and be done with it!

 

[avos]

In that price range your option is probably either put dd-wrt on a consumer router or go with a Ubiquiti Edgerouter Lite 3port. To do everything you want is going to take a good bit of effort with the Edgerouter however. Unless you are familiar already with Vyatta.

For custom hardware the closest you are going to get is probably one of the Intel NUC clones sold directly from China. Something with either a Celeron J1900N or C1037U. But at most you are going to get 2 NICs so you are still going to need a switch capable of vlans. Which is going to put you closer to $300-450 when all said and done once you add a ssd and memory.

The problem with the small integrated solutions out there right now isn't the CPU performance, but with the NIC options. It seems really hard to find something x86, power efficient, with 3+ NICs these days for less than $450. Most manufactures seem to be focusing on small htpc options which don't need the extra ethernet ports.

 

[azazel1024]

You could roll USB3 NICs. Seems like a bad idea though.

$150 and "custom hardware" I don't think is going to happen. Better off probably getting a consumer router and running DD-WRT on it. You could probably build something in the $250 range if you went with an inexpensive case, PSU, 2GB of RAM, one of the dual NIC J1900 celeron uITX boards and slapped a single port NIC in to the PCIe slot.

Or you could take your chances with something like the Intel compute stick, or get a Bay Trail based NUC and some USB3 NICs (and hub if you needed it) and go to town with your fingers crossed. Still not likely to be under $150 when all was said and done though.