Will this Hardware take me close to 1000/1000Mbit, pls check before I order.
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Have you read the advice about running pfSense on an SSD? The normal .iso install will destroy the SSD due to the constant, small reads/writes. To have an SSD survive this, you need to run an embedded install, which would run just as well off of a small (but fast) CompactFlash card.
Not true. There are write limits with SSD but your firewall will write vastly less to disk with a normal full install (logs are in RAM) than a typical laptop or other device running SSD with Windows, OS X, or other OSes.
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This is bogus info.
I've been running pfsense off Intel 80GB "G1" SSD's since they came out. Using the Intel tools they are still reported 99% life remaining - so in 2 years those constant small reads/writes have used 1% of my SSD life span.
John
Have you read the advice about running pfSense on an SSD? The normal .iso install will destroy the SSD due to the constant, small reads/writes. To have an SSD survive this, you need to run an embedded install, which would run just as well off of a small (but fast) CompactFlash card.
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Those NICs are identical to the ones built into the SuperMicro X8SIL(-F). Unless you have some reason to want to use add-in NICs, save yourself some cash (and space) and get the SuperMicro board. If you need 4 ports then consider the X8SIE-LN4(F).
I now have a SuperMicro board based on Intel atom 1.6Ghz with dual NIC's and I can't get over 380Mbit with little CPU load. (I manage to max the CPU load at 34%) Soo I think the built in stuff not that great.
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I now have a SuperMicro board based on Intel atom 1.6Ghz with dual NIC's and I can't get over 380Mbit with little CPU load. (I manage to max the CPU load at 34%) Soo I think the built in stuff not that great.
I've certainly heard similar reports from others - that apparently identical built in NICs don't perform as well as physical cards.
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I now have a SuperMicro board based on Intel atom 1.6Ghz with dual NIC's and I can't get over 380Mbit with little CPU load. (I manage to max the CPU load at 34%) Soo I think the built in stuff not that great.
Which Supermicro is this? I know of at least one of the Supermicro Atom boards that uses Realtek 8111 NICs instead of Intel 82574's.
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I've never had this with onboard Intel NIC's. The chip and drivers are identical to the stand-alone cards and performance has always been equal.
Perhaps with some shoddy RT on board NIC you would gain performance with an add in Intel card.
I won't buy boards that use RT nic's unless it's only for IPMI. Intel is my #1 choice, followed by Broadcom.
@Cry:
I now have a SuperMicro board based on Intel atom 1.6Ghz with dual NIC's and I can't get over 380Mbit with little CPU load. (I manage to max the CPU load at 34%) Soo I think the built in stuff not that great.
I've certainly heard similar reports from others - that apparently identical built in NICs don't perform as well as physical cards.
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I would recommend rather than using the X8SIL series Supermicro motherboards you take a look at the new LGA1155 socket ones like the X9SCM coupled with the newer Intel Core-i3 2100. It's a newer architecture and probably slightly faster/more power efficient.
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Still looking for improvments to the build:
This is what I decided at this moment.
Bold have been changed after your inputs.
I changed the NIC's to PCI-eXpress verion to get faster bus speeds over PCI (can it be that some internal NIC use PCI bus and not PCI eXpress?)
That forced me to a new motherboard and then I changed to 1155 instead of the older 1156 version.
Then I hade to change CPU to 1155 aswell.Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-H67M-UD2H-B3 H67 S-1155 M-ATX
CPU based on 1155: INTEL CORE I3 2100 3.10GHZ 3MB S-1155
NIC's to be sure I get pci-X: INTEL GIGABIT CT DESKTOP ADAPTER PCI-EMemory: CORSAIR 4GB DDR3 XMS3 INTEL I3/I5/I7 1333MHZ
HD KINGSTON V DRIVE 30GB SSD SATA/300 MLC
PSU: SILVERSTONE SFX 450W
BOX SILVERSTONE SST-SG01-B-F EVOLUTION M-ATX BLACKAny more input ideés I would love.
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@Cry:
I now have a SuperMicro board based on Intel atom 1.6Ghz with dual NIC's and I can't get over 380Mbit with little CPU load. (I manage to max the CPU load at 34%) Soo I think the built in stuff not that great.
I've certainly heard similar reports from others - that apparently identical built in NICs don't perform as well as physical cards.
I've not had that experience, at least not with Intel NICs. I've got an X8SIL-F right in front of me and have had no issues pushing 100MB/s through the onboard 82574L controllers when running CentOS, OpenSolaris, or Windows Server 2008R2.
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The ones in the case I'm aware of were nominally Intel Gbit server grade cards, which topped out below that of a physical card by a measurable margin. The problem may have been specific to the motherboards or chipsets used, but I don't have enough technical information on the setup any more (this dates from a few years ago now).
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Issues with the X9 series and FreeBSD 8.1 makes it an iffy PF sense 2.0 platform. I agree that once driver issues are resolved it makes sense to consider this.
I would recommend rather than using the X8SIL series Supermicro motherboards you take a look at the new LGA1155 socket ones like the X9SCM coupled with the newer Intel Core-i3 2100. It's a newer architecture and probably slightly faster/more power efficient.
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@Cry:
I now have a SuperMicro board based on Intel atom 1.6Ghz with dual NIC's and I can't get over 380Mbit with little CPU load. (I manage to max the CPU load at 34%) Soo I think the built in stuff not that great.
I've certainly heard similar reports from others - that apparently identical built in NICs don't perform as well as physical cards.
I've not had that experience, at least not with Intel NICs. I've got an X8SIL-F right in front of me and have had no issues pushing 100MB/s through the onboard 82574L controllers when running CentOS, OpenSolaris, or Windows Server 2008R2.
100MB as in Megabyte?
100MByte/s = 800Mbit/s just to be sure cos I was using Mbit as unit and not MB.
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Issues with the X9 series and FreeBSD 8.1 makes it an iffy PF sense 2.0 platform. I agree that once driver issues are resolved it makes sense to consider this.
I would recommend rather than using the X8SIL series Supermicro motherboards you take a look at the new LGA1155 socket ones like the X9SCM coupled with the newer Intel Core-i3 2100. It's a newer architecture and probably slightly faster/more power efficient.
English not my native language, I guess Iffy = unstable ?
Will I be able to run pfsense 2 on Intel 1155 builds with eXpress NIC's at all?
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@Cry:
The ones in the case I'm aware of were nominally Intel Gbit server grade cards, which topped out below that of a physical card by a measurable margin. The problem may have been specific to the motherboards or chipsets used, but I don't have enough technical information on the setup any more (this dates from a few years ago now).
I believe there were a few manufacturers that were using PCI-e bridge chips to force multiple onboard NICs through a single PCI-e lane. Maybe you ran into one of those.
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The problem is the socket 1155 boards are very new and the driver support hasn't caught up with them yet. Obviously on Windows it's not that bad of a situation, and on some of the bleeding edge Linux also support is good, but I would have concerns that PFSense and FreeBSD 8.1 supports it correctly already. Most of the 1155 board I've seen are using a new Intel NIC that I know is not on the 8.1 or 8.2 HCL yet.
It was the same with the prior generation socket 1156 boards - it always takes a bit for the drivers to catch up.
John
Issues with the X9 series and FreeBSD 8.1 makes it an iffy PF sense 2.0 platform. I agree that once driver issues are resolved it makes sense to consider this.
I would recommend rather than using the X8SIL series Supermicro motherboards you take a look at the new LGA1155 socket ones like the X9SCM coupled with the newer Intel Core-i3 2100. It's a newer architecture and probably slightly faster/more power efficient.
English not my native language, I guess Iffy = unstable ?
Will I be able to run pfsense 2 on Intel 1155 builds with eXpress NIC's at all?
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Don't confuse PCI-X, an older less-desirable server slot interface, with PCI-e (PCI-Express) which is what you want.
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Feels like I have to try and buy to be sure.
I will order and I get back when I got time to assemble it and test for pfsense v2.
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If you're that desperate to save money and get a desktop board, then go for the H61 chipset boards with a pair of Intel PCIe x1 GBe NICs instead.
The H61 still supports the Sandy Bridge Core-i processors with their IGP. You just lose 2 Sata ports (for a total of 4) and IGP overclocking. Neither are important for a pfSense build but you do save US$50 easily.The MSI H61M-E33 board runs for US$64.99 at Newegg compared to the GA-H67M-UD2H at US$129.99.
The Intel EXPI9301CT bulk pack variant runs for US$27.99 each.
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Those NICs are identical to the ones built into the SuperMicro X8SIL(-F). Unless you have some reason to want to use add-in NICs, save yourself some cash (and space) and get the SuperMicro board. If you need 4 ports then consider the X8SIE-LN4(F).
How are the NICs mounted? I couldn't find anything other than a top down pic of that board.
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What do you mean "mounted"? They're integrated on to the motherboard and the ports are part of the I/O area, right next to the USB, Video, etc.
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What do you mean "mounted"? They're integrated on to the motherboard and the ports are part of the I/O area, right next to the USB, Video, etc.
All four? Interesting.
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@Bai:
What do you mean "mounted"? They're integrated on to the motherboard and the ports are part of the I/O area, right next to the USB, Video, etc.
All four? Interesting.
Yes, for the X8SIE-LN4 all 4 are on the motherboard.
If you get the "F" variant then the 5th port for IPMI is there as well, right above the USB.
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NIC's on motherboard can share resources,if you looking for raw performance and want to be sure I would go external cards. 100Mbit not a problem but around 500+ Mbit it's another thing.
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I've had no issues pushing the two Gig-E ports to ~100MB/s on my X8SIL-F (simultaneously). Intel LoM parts are just as good as an add-in card if you're talking about the same chip. I'd stay away from Realtek and the like though.
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NIC's on motherboard can share resources,if you looking for raw performance and want to be sure I would go external cards. 100Mbit not a problem but around 500+ Mbit it's another thing.
That is for PCI or PCI-X(tended) NICs. The PCI-E(xpress) NICs do not share a common bus bandwidth like with the former 2 types and they can reach their maximum speeds each up to the limits of the platform or the capabilities of the host and client.