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I now plan to migrate my pfSense box, which is running natively on a PC, to Windows 7, and run pfSense as a VM.
Here are the specs:
Intel E2140 dual core
4GB PC2-3200 RAM
160GB WD hard drive
Intel EXPI9301CT PCI-E NIC
Intel PWLA8391GT PRO/1000 GT PCI NIC
Here is the configuration I am planning:
WAN > NIC 1 (no Windows services applied except VMWare bridge) > VM > NIC 2 (LAN) > switch
I plan to install Windows 7 Ultimate as the base since I would like to use the computer as a file server, which I cannot do with pfSense as the native install. I will then install pfSense in a VM and configure it for use as my firewall/router, and dedicate one NIC to WAN, the other to LAN. Also, I will have the VM start automatically when the computer starts, so if the computer were to restart for any reason, routing would come back as soon as the computer booted.
The question is, does this concept pose any potential exposure to security issues since the Windows 7 machine will basically be connected to the WAN? I know as long as the pfSense VM is configured correctly that it shouldn't be an issue, as the network adapter that is going to be dedicated to WAN won't be using any Windows services, but only dedicated to the VM itself. Am I missing anything, or is my thinking flawed by doing this? What security issues would I be introducing with this planned architecture?
I'd appreciate any input. Thanks!
Here are the specs:
Intel E2140 dual core
4GB PC2-3200 RAM
160GB WD hard drive
Intel EXPI9301CT PCI-E NIC
Intel PWLA8391GT PRO/1000 GT PCI NIC
Here is the configuration I am planning:
WAN > NIC 1 (no Windows services applied except VMWare bridge) > VM > NIC 2 (LAN) > switch
I plan to install Windows 7 Ultimate as the base since I would like to use the computer as a file server, which I cannot do with pfSense as the native install. I will then install pfSense in a VM and configure it for use as my firewall/router, and dedicate one NIC to WAN, the other to LAN. Also, I will have the VM start automatically when the computer starts, so if the computer were to restart for any reason, routing would come back as soon as the computer booted.
The question is, does this concept pose any potential exposure to security issues since the Windows 7 machine will basically be connected to the WAN? I know as long as the pfSense VM is configured correctly that it shouldn't be an issue, as the network adapter that is going to be dedicated to WAN won't be using any Windows services, but only dedicated to the VM itself. Am I missing anything, or is my thinking flawed by doing this? What security issues would I be introducing with this planned architecture?
I'd appreciate any input. Thanks!