Specs

I purchased this Dell OptiPlex 7050 via Ebay for around $60.00. It is a small form factor (SFF) desktop, with additional PCIe expansion slots, which made it a suitable alternative to other dedicated hardware these days for firewall appliances. The desktop specs were as follows:

• Processor - Intel Core i5-7600T 3.50GHz
• 8 Gb DDR4 Ram 
• 500 Gb SSD 
• Intel HD Graphics 630

The small form factor version of this desktop came with:

• 2x VGA ports
• Optical Drive
• 1x USB-C port
• 4x USB 2.0 ports
• 2x DisplayPort
• 1x HDMI port
• 1x RJ45 ethernet port

The most important reason for selecting the SFF version was its capacity for PCIe expansion. Firewall appliances require 2 RJ45 ports, and these expansion slots allowed me to purchased a Network Interface Card (NIC) and install it on the motherboard. You can find more information about the NIC I purchased on the next page!