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    Netgate 8200 connection questions

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved General pfSense Questions
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    • M
      MacUsers
      last edited by

      I need to be able to feed 2 sets of LAGGs ports to two diffrent switches and one for WAN connections; then I have multiple VLANs on the switches. e.g. my wired and WiFi networks are physically seperated, so they can operate saperately.

      So, you are saying that M.2 slots are my best options?

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • stephenw10S
        stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
        last edited by

        Well it's hard to recommend adding NICs because you'd need to mod the enclosure to use them.

        But there are 8 NICs on the 8200 so if you only need to two LAGGs and one WAN you should be able to do that with 5 NICs. But I assume the issue is that all links need to be 2.5G? None can be 1 or 10G?

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        • M
          MacUsers
          last edited by MacUsers

          yeah, 2.5G is the limiting factor here.
          So, nothing but 1G or 10G is hardware restriction? Not even a Transceiver like this work?
          https://www.amazon.co.uk/QSFPTEK-Transceiver-10GBASE-T-SFP-10G-T-S-UF-RJ45-10G/dp/B081YKGBR4?th=1

          -S

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          • stephenw10S
            stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
            last edited by

            No, AFAIK there is no way to get the 10G ports to link at 2.5Gor 5G directly. Some sort of external media converter might do it.

            HoweverI would consider if all those links actually need to be 2.5G. Perhaps you can use a LAGG of 1G links or a single 10G instead.

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            • M
              MacUsers
              last edited by

              Thanks @stephenw10!
              Yeah, something I need to figure out, to be as close as possible to my DIY setup.

              I have another two Qs:

              • Can I use a 2nd M.2 SSD to create RAID?
              • Can USB to VGA converter be used to plugin a standard compyter disply?

              -S

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              • stephenw10S
                stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                last edited by

                Yes it is possible to fit two NVMe drives and install to them as a zfs mirror:

                [admin@6100.stevew.lan]/root: zpool list -v zroot
                NAME         SIZE  ALLOC   FREE  CKPOINT  EXPANDSZ   FRAG    CAP  DEDUP  HEALTH  ALTROOT
                zroot         13G   824M  12.2G        -         -     5%     6%  1.00x  ONLINE  -
                  mirror      13G   824M  12.2G        -         -     5%  6.18%
                    nvd0p3      -      -      -        -         -      -      -
                    nvd1p3      -      -      -        -         -      -      -
                

                No there is no VGA output and no drivers for adding an external video card. The local console is serial only, either dircetly via the RJ-45 port or through the on-board USB-serial adapter.

                M 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                • M
                  MacUsers
                  last edited by

                  thanks @stephenw10 !
                  I think I got all the info I needed. Now have to decide to-buy or not-to-buy :)

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                  • M
                    MacUsers @stephenw10
                    last edited by MacUsers

                    @stephenw10 said in Netgate 8200 connection questions:

                    Yes it is possible to fit two NVMe drives and install to them as a zfs mirror:

                    Got my 8200 now ๐Ÿ˜
                    Just a quick Q: M.2 SATA won't work, right?
                    I ordered 2 of those, but now I think not a match?
                    https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B09ZYPV5RW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

                    If not, any recomendation?

                    -S

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • stephenw10S
                      stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                      last edited by

                      @MacUsers said in Netgate 8200 connection questions:

                      https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B09ZYPV5RW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

                      Indeed m.2 SATA won't work they must be NVMe.

                      I don't have any specific recommendations there, I have tested some Intel Optane drives but they are 16GB. The cheapest I could get to test with!

                      There are some threads in the Netgate hardware section with drives others have used. By aware of this bug detailing some drives that caused issues: https://redmine.pfsense.org/issues/15110

                      M 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                      • M
                        MacUsers @stephenw10
                        last edited by MacUsers

                        Not sure why Netgate had to choose a motherboard with such an uncommon configuration as pretty much 99% M.2 NVMe drives are all M-Key type ๐Ÿ˜ฒ

                        I'm giving this a try now.
                        https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B09P58BJ2L/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?th=1

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                        • stephenw10S
                          stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                          last edited by

                          @MacUsers said in Netgate 8200 connection questions:

                          https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B09P58BJ2L/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?th=1

                          Pretty sure that's also M keyed. Pretty much anything that fits the B keyed slot will be M+B keyed. I don't think I've ever seen a B key only SSD.

                          M 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • M
                            MacUsers @stephenw10
                            last edited by MacUsers

                            You are righ!
                            now I see: judging by this pin-out:
                            695fd4f5-6f92-4571-b0d0-c5c72b86eb63-image.png

                            looks like pretty much nothing available ๐Ÿ˜ง

                            M 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • M
                              MacUsers @MacUsers
                              last edited by

                              Never heard of 'em, but that's the only thing I could find in Amazon UK:

                              https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0DL5WYGJ1/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A14U8PTXJ71BWF&th=1

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                              • stephenw10S
                                stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                last edited by

                                @MacUsers said in Netgate 8200 connection questions:

                                https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0DL5WYGJ1/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A14U8PTXJ71BWF&th=1

                                Hmm, me either.

                                There is a recent recommendation here: https://forum.netgate.com/topic/195962/netgate-6100-replacement-128gb-nvme-drive

                                Not in the UK though.

                                M 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • M
                                  MacUsers @stephenw10
                                  last edited by

                                  Yeah, I was looking in that post as well......... I couldn't find anywhere to buy Innodisk from.

                                  BTW, do you know how to get to the BIOS? I'm on Mac and pressing ESC is not entering BIOS setup at all.

                                  -S

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                                  • stephenw10S
                                    stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                    last edited by

                                    There is no conventional bios setup in blinkboot. The only options there are the efi boot device table and the reset and pxe hotkeys.

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                    • M
                                      MacUsers
                                      last edited by

                                      Another disspoinment - the GiGimundo disk I have been sent (by Amazon) is actualy a K-Key only. Either the picture in the listing is worng or I was genuinely sent a worng item by warehouse staff. But I now believe the former is the case.

                                      But that makes a lot bigger concern: if a B+M key cannot be sourced, what happens if the HDD fails, especially after the warranty. We will be left witha very expensive paper-weaight, I suppose.

                                      -S

                                      GertjanG 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • GertjanG
                                        Gertjan @MacUsers
                                        last edited by Gertjan

                                        @MacUsers said in Netgate 8200 connection questions:

                                        if a B+M key cannot be sourced

                                        More then enough :
                                        https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MR5O5YS/ref=sspa_dk_hqp_detail_aax_0?sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9ocXBfc2hhcmVk&th=1

                                        Never delete a file anymore drive :
                                        https://www.amazon.com/KingSpec-Performance-Internal-Solid-Ultrabook/dp/B08FQVNY5K/ref=pd_ci_mcx_pspc_dp_2_i_4?pd_rd_w=v7kTV&content-id=amzn1.sym.cd152278-debd-42b9-91b9-6f271389fda7&pf_rd_p=cd152278-debd-42b9-91b9-6f271389fda7&pf_rd_r=RQCEC0V1HR020ZW6463P&pd_rd_wg=tl5tJ&pd_rd_r=834c8db7-5bd2-47d3-b2f0-10d25fd34507&pd_rd_i=B08FQVNY5K&th=1

                                        Note : both are B+M keyed drives, the image tells me so, and it's written in the sales text.

                                        If they send you something different, X keyed, suggest that they pause building boosters and give more love to the shipping department ๐Ÿ˜Š

                                        No "help me" PM's please. Use the forum, the community will thank you.
                                        Edit : and where are the logs ??

                                        M 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • stephenw10S
                                          stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                          last edited by

                                          That's SATA not NVMe. Must be an NVMe drive in 8200 / 6100 / 4100.

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                                          • stephenw10S
                                            stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                            last edited by stephenw10

                                            This should work: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C64DVYZ9

                                            I haven't tested it though.

                                            I can say that the 16G Intel Optane drives work well and are readily available used since nobody wants them any longer.

                                            M 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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