Written by pfSense co-founder Chris Buechler and pfSense consultant Jim Pingle, this Definitive Guide to pfSense covers installation and basic configuration through advanced networking and firewalling with the popular open source firewall and router distribution. This book is designed to be a friendly step-by-step guide to common networking and security tasks, plus a thorough reference of pfSense's capabilities. The book covers hardware and system planning, installation and upgrades, backups, firewalling fundamentals, port forwarding and Network Address Translation, bridging, Virtual LANs (VLAN), Multi-WAN, Virtual Private Networks (VPN) using IPsec, PPTP, and OpenVPN, traffic shaping, load balancing, wireless networking and captive portal setups, redundant firewalls and High Availability, system monitoring, logging, traffic analysis, sniffing, packet capturing, troubleshooting, and software package and third-party software installations and upgrades.
pfSense: The Definitive Guide
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I've been using pfSense for two years in a business environment and have been eagerly awaiting the release of this book. As with many open-source projects, my knowledge of pfSense has come primarily from first-hand experience and gleaning from other users experiences in forums. While this has certain advantages, it can't compare to a formal, organized breakdown of the product by people in the know and this guide delivers. I have had time to peruse the content and read in depth into several issues for which I could not find answers elsewhere. The discussion of various aspects of the platform goes beyond the simple setup model of other IT guides and actually discusses underlying dynamics, issues and their sources, and best practices beyond the vanilla setup. The writing is reasonable, even, and understandable. If you are using pfSense, this is an indispensable resource. I wish that I had access to this years ago as it would have saved numerous hours of development time.
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful
By O. Hansen
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
As one of the other reviewers stated, this book goes to the trouble of explaining why certain things work the way they do and what your options are when something isn't quite how you expected it. I have only read the setup chapter and browsed through some of the other chapters to see what is there. I have been using pfSense for over a year at work and am a huge fan of the system as it has remained a rock-solid application. I am very excited to use the book to help me improve the network as we implement VLANs and more.
For experienced administrators, I would recommend trying out pfSense and then buying this book when you see how many options are available to you. For new users, this is a great starting point and will walk you through the initial setup phase and choosing hardware so I recommend picking this up before you start. There is plenty of information for all in this book and it's a great way to help support the further development of the project!
*Update* 2/10/2011
I have read through the entire book now and it is all very helpful. I even started reading portions that I have no use for at the moment but knowing they are there helps me plan for the future. I am eagerly awaiting the release of pfSense 2.0 and even if some things have changed by then this book will still prove useful because it teaches you the fundamentals and is not afraid to go into the "why".
*Update* 1/11/2012
I now have been using 2.0 for a few months and although things have changed the book is still very helpful. Things may be in slightly different places but the concepts remain the same.
For experienced administrators, I would recommend trying out pfSense and then buying this book when you see how many options are available to you. For new users, this is a great starting point and will walk you through the initial setup phase and choosing hardware so I recommend picking this up before you start. There is plenty of information for all in this book and it's a great way to help support the further development of the project!
*Update* 2/10/2011
I have read through the entire book now and it is all very helpful. I even started reading portions that I have no use for at the moment but knowing they are there helps me plan for the future. I am eagerly awaiting the release of pfSense 2.0 and even if some things have changed by then this book will still prove useful because it teaches you the fundamentals and is not afraid to go into the "why".
*Update* 1/11/2012
I now have been using 2.0 for a few months and although things have changed the book is still very helpful. Things may be in slightly different places but the concepts remain the same.
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
By S. Christian
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
The timing of the release of this book comes at an excellent time. I have only been experimenting with pfSense for my home firewall for a few days now. I wanted something more powerful then the consumer solutions were able to offer and with pfSense and some old spare hardware, I have found my answer. I can now get many of the same features I expect from the enterprise grade firewall and router hardware I use at work, now at home for a tiny fraction of the price. I have spent the last 7 hours since receiving the book reading and going through the configuration steps on my firewall. Without this book to help guide me through the process, it would have taken much longer to get where I am now. I now have a decent understanding on how pfSense works and how to configure most of what I need. In a few more days, I should have finished reading the book and gone through the rest of the setup and configuration process and be up to speed with pfSense. I plan to roll pfSense out as a solution to several specialized needs at work and also for several tech savvy friends and co-workers that want something more then Linksys or Dlink can provide.
The book walks you through the process and explains what everything means and how it relates to the overall system. If you are currently using or thinking about using pfSense as a router/firewall solution, you need to check this book out. This book is going to save many hours of frustration and searching for the answers online. Two thumbs up! This is the must have reference for pfSense users!
-- Ubergeek / Systems Administrator
The book walks you through the process and explains what everything means and how it relates to the overall system. If you are currently using or thinking about using pfSense as a router/firewall solution, you need to check this book out. This book is going to save many hours of frustration and searching for the answers online. Two thumbs up! This is the must have reference for pfSense users!
-- Ubergeek / Systems Administrator
Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good to get perspective on where things came from.
If I had to describe this book in one word, that word would be, "Outdated." SO much has changed in pfSense. Read more
Published 11 days ago by Mike B
4.0 out of 5 stars
pfSense is a great router distro and this is the definitive book.
pfSense is a great router distro and this is the definitive book. Well worth the price to get up to speed.
Published 15 days ago by Mr. Difficult
5.0 out of 5 stars
Extremely useful, slightly dated
I just updated my home firewall to a redundant configuration using CARP (Common Address Redundancy Protocol).
Even though I was working with pfSense 2. Read more
Even though I was working with pfSense 2. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Steve G
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great book for the product
I bought the book for the setup info and it proved very valuable. I would have like a bit more detail on what/why some setting should be set to as well as some more on how to... Read more
Published 2 months ago by ramosel
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must have for pfSense users
I have been using pfSense for some years, although there are a lot of tutorials, videos, etc. this book covers basic and advanced pfSense & firewall features / functions, very well... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Ariel Rincon Falconi
3.0 out of 5 stars
Doesn't cover 2.x
Yes, it's a well written book, but there is no coverage of 2.x at all. The reason I bought this book was because the available information on 2. Read more
Published 8 months ago by A. L. Holder
5.0 out of 5 stars
pfSense: The Definitive Guide
I have read the whole book from cover to cover, and it's a must-have reference book for fpSense. Go get it.
Published 12 months ago by Terje Moen
5.0 out of 5 stars
Happy with Kindle edition - includes Table of Contents
My review of pfSense: The Definitive Guide (Kindle Edition)
Even though the Kindle edition costs nearly as much as the printed version,
I decided to go with the Kindle... Read more
Even though the Kindle edition costs nearly as much as the printed version,
I decided to go with the Kindle... Read more
Published 12 months ago by David Hartley
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is the book you need for PFsense
When ever I have to work on something, the first thing I do is gather knowlege from the guy that built it. This time was no exception. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Agent1911
1.0 out of 5 stars
DO NOT BUY THE KINDLE EDITION
I have this book in print. It's a fantastic book, a gold mine of information.
For easy reference I purchased the Kindle Edition.
This was a big mistake. Read more
For easy reference I purchased the Kindle Edition.
This was a big mistake. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Seppe De Loore
