= Bennu Background Info = ''Author:'' Daniel S. Haischt ''Date:'' December 2007 ''Online version:'' http://wiki.apache.org/incubator/BennuProposal/BennuMissionStatement == A Little History == To provide some background, m0n0wall is a PHP based management layer on top of FreeBSD. Management of FreeBSD based software service is provided to the user by exposing a HTML based user interface. The intent is probably similar to projects like Webmin. In contrast m0n0wall doesn't provide a general purpose administration interfaces but puts an emphasise on a FreeBSD based administration facility. Additionally, compared to Webmin, m0n0wall is pretty lightweight and fits on a small sized compact flash card which may then serve as a foundation for an embedded firewall system. == About (Embedded) Firewall Hardware == Embedded firewall systems are regularly run on embedded boards like the Soekris boards with the following specifications: * 433 to 600 Mhz AMD Geode LX single chip processor with CS5536 companion chip * 128-1024 Mbyte DDR-SDRAM, soldered on board * CompactFLASH Type I/II socket, 8 Mbyte to 32 Gbyte FLASH or Microdrive * UltraDMA-100 interface with 44 pins connector for 2.5" Hard Drive * Serial ATA 1.0 interface for Hard Drive, with +5V and +12V power header * 1-4 VIA VT6105M 10/100 Mbit Auto MDIX Ethernet ports, RJ-45, protected with 2KW/100A TVS * USB 2.0 interface, one internal, one external port * Mini-PCI type III socket. (for t.ex. hardware encryption or wireless controller) * PCI Slot, right angle 3.3V signalling only, dual PCI slot option Source: [http://www.soekris.com/net5501.htm] A PCI slot and SATA/PATA should be considered optional because they are still not commonly found on embedded boards. Another embedded device having even more constraints regarding computing power is the Armadillo-300 Series: * CPU Clock: 200MHz (ARM926EJ-S) * SDRAM：64MB * FLASH：8MB * 10BASE-T/100BASE-TX Ethernet port * USB2.0 * miniPCI IEEE802.11a/b/g module * CompactFLASH Type I/II socket Source: [http://www.atmark-techno.com/en/products/armadillo/a300/specs] At least on such embedded devices, computing power and the amount of RAM available should be considered as a constraint that will influence the design of the Bennu system. Of course a software system designed for embedded x86 based hardware may run on regular x86 based hardware as well.