1) (chinese) ratbots are scanning the internets continously. Every open port will be probed and if a "known" protocol is responding, they'll fire up their magics on your service. And I prefer that to happen in a "corner" of my network than on a device which has potentially access to everything else. If the edge of your network goes down, your inner LANs are (hopefully) well protected.
2) at least your BI infrastructure remains "safe". The question with the pi is if it can provide the required bandwidth you are aspiring for. Do not expect 10 users watching cam seeds at Full HD. What you should (re)consider is how you want to secure your network. Some people have dual nic BI pc setups (at least to split off the cams from the local LAN - but it secures the cams also from inbound crazy stuff). Other users (like me) have implemented vlans. I personally have a combination of both ER-X (for the firewalling/VPN), vlans everywhere and an additional ASUS (with its own VPN through backup ISP line). Is this the best setup ever? No, but one has to evaluation the $$$ versus the benefits/impacts left and right.
3a) I encounter them especially in my professional customer base, not in a home environment
3b) ASUS is "off the shelf" ready for what you might require (and provides good firmware / security updates through the Rmerlin packages). Edgerouter is not user-friendly at all (slight steep learning curve, except if you are used to command line hocus pocus, as many stuff are not readily available for configuration through the Edgemax OS gui. The first does (very limited) vlans, the latter is a key component in your infrastructure if you'd like vlans. And on a plus, on both VPN service can be aggregated.
Hope this helps!
CC
2) at least your BI infrastructure remains "safe". The question with the pi is if it can provide the required bandwidth you are aspiring for. Do not expect 10 users watching cam seeds at Full HD. What you should (re)consider is how you want to secure your network. Some people have dual nic BI pc setups (at least to split off the cams from the local LAN - but it secures the cams also from inbound crazy stuff). Other users (like me) have implemented vlans. I personally have a combination of both ER-X (for the firewalling/VPN), vlans everywhere and an additional ASUS (with its own VPN through backup ISP line). Is this the best setup ever? No, but one has to evaluation the $$$ versus the benefits/impacts left and right.
3a) I encounter them especially in my professional customer base, not in a home environment
3b) ASUS is "off the shelf" ready for what you might require (and provides good firmware / security updates through the Rmerlin packages). Edgerouter is not user-friendly at all (slight steep learning curve, except if you are used to command line hocus pocus, as many stuff are not readily available for configuration through the Edgemax OS gui. The first does (very limited) vlans, the latter is a key component in your infrastructure if you'd like vlans. And on a plus, on both VPN service can be aggregated.
Hope this helps!
CC
