Small PCs

[ewx]

I'm planning to get a Soekris net5501 to the be the house router (so: IP routing, NAT, DHCP client/server, secnet VPN, DNS). Before I do, are there any similar devices I should consider as possible alternatives?

What I need is:

• Silent or at least very quiet
• At least three ethernet ports (house LAN, house wireless, upstream)
• Must be able to run Linux without undue hassle

Nice to have but not necessarily essential:

• Serial console (but I can faff around with a keyboard and monitor if it comes to it)
• Compact flash storage (I have a spare 2GB card, which is unrealistically small for my camera)
• x86 architecture (my plan is to transplant an existing lenny install onto it)

Comments

[mstevens.livejournal.com]

No ideas (I've liked the look of soekris myself), but interested in reports of how you do with it.

Well, there's always one of the various permutations of mini-itx/nano-itx/whatever they're calling it these days.

[nunfetishist.livejournal.com]

Snap. We're currently using a product my employer designed as our router. It's great in that we have the schematics and are responsible for the Linux port, but sucks in that it really isn't designed for the workload we put on it.