Net6501-30
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Hi!
It's my first post here, so be nice to me ;D
I need a router for my home network, currently I have a Netgear GS116 Gigabit Switch for my home network (15 ports are being actually used) amd I have a Cable Modem (currently 50Mpbs, but in the near future I might consider to update to 100Mbps)
I'm thinking about a installing a router/firewall between the Cable Modem and the Switch. The router will just connect the WAN to the LAN and additionally I will connect one Wireless AP to it.
I was thiking about this hardware: http://soekris.com/products/net6501/net6501-30-board-case.html
My needs are simple, I just own a Home Network, not the Pentagon.. so a simple Firewall should work (that does not slow down my network). I don't plan to use Snort or Squid or things like that,
I have read the Hardware recommendation guide, but looks a bit "old".. when they speak about 500Mhz machines, they speak about Geodes, with Realtek 100mbps NICs… the 6051-30 board is "just" an Atom 600... but it supports multithread, and that board has 4 Intel Gigabit NICs.. would that not be enough when I upgrade to a 100Mpbs WAN?
I know I could get a 6501-50 but I don't want to overdimension my setup..
thoughts?
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I wouldn't bother with the -30 version because the power consumption is basically identical to the -50.
Also, it sounds like you want to connect the wireless AP to the router, not to your switch. If you do, all the traffic that passes through that AP will need to be considered as well, potentially driving your system requirements way up.
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If you do, all the traffic that passes through that AP will need to be considered as well, potentially driving your system requirements way up.
If the traffic through the external AP is just WiFi it shouldn't be capable of putting too much additional strain on the router/firewall?
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I looked into the -50, but I don't think I would get a real benefit from it.. It has more RAM than the -30, but still not enough to use snort or squid fluently.. And yes, it has more CPU.. But my point is that maybe the 600 Atom with Intel Gigabit nics should be enough for a 100 mbps WAN and one single Gigabit LAN (or maybe not..I have never seen a real world test of this setup)
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It should pass 100Mbps between WAN and LAN. Given that the AMD Geode at 500MHz, a much older design, can pass 85Mbps. However there seems to be a distict lack of benchmarks. ;)
The problem suggested above is that by connecting your wireless AP to a separate interface the Soekris box has to firewall traffic between wifi and LAN. That could potentially be much greater than 100Mbps.Steve
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I always found this 85Mbps "limit" for the 500Mhz Geodes a little bit "suspicious".
85Mbps is also the limit because of the bottleneck with 100Mbit NICs.
A server appliance with Octo-Core Xeons and 100Mbit NICs should be also able to pass only 85Mbps (with luck)
The sizing guide is missing some additional Information.. 500Mhz with 100Mbit NICs or 500Mhz with Gigabit NICs? (I'm sure that when the sizing guide was written there were only 500Mhz Geodes with 100Mbit NICs…)
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I see what you're saying but I don't think that's the case. The maximum throughput can be measured by summing the throughput of all interfaces to avoid that for example.
Consider a different comparison. The Atom D510 can firewall/NAT around 500Mbps. That has 2 cores (4 threads) and runs at 2.5X the clock speed of the E620. If limited purely by CPU speed on a single core this would give (485/2.76) 175Mbps. However it won't be that simple, other factors come into play. I would expect ~150Mbps. But I could be wrong! ;)Steve
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I always found this 85Mbps "limit" for the 500Mhz Geodes a little bit "suspicious".
85Mbps is also the limit because of the bottleneck with 100Mbit NICs.
A server appliance with Octo-Core Xeons and 100Mbit NICs should be also able to pass only 85Mbps (with luck)
The sizing guide is missing some additional Information.. 500Mhz with 100Mbit NICs or 500Mhz with Gigabit NICs? (I'm sure that when the sizing guide was written there were only 500Mhz Geodes with 100Mbit NICs…)
The 85 Mbit/s are the raw forwarding power.
In a setup with symmetrical traffic you get about 42/42. The CPU is here the bottleneck and not the bus. -
If you do, all the traffic that passes through that AP will need to be considered as well, potentially driving your system requirements way up.
If the traffic through the external AP is just WiFi it shouldn't be capable of putting too much additional strain on the router/firewall?
Depends on your WiFi. Decent WiFi is capable of doing far more than 100Mbit/s.
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Here is a relevant thread:
http://www.mail-archive.com/soekris-tech@lists.soekris.com/msg06823.htmlUnfortunately the poster that gives numbers doesn't mention which cpu version he's running.
Steve
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Thank you very much for the answers!
They have been very helpful.
I got clear that a 6501-50 would be more future proof (and more adecuate for a 100Mbps WAN)..
I was really about to buy it (I just needed to press the button), but then I made the "mistake" of evaluating the DIY option..
Even thought I loved the idea of the 6501 (efficient, compact, fast…) the price was not that "adecuate" :D
the 6501-50 costs 370€ over here..
I have just paid 212,36€ for the DIY components.. 2500CCE + 2x2GB RAM + PicoPSU-80 + 96W brick + M350 + Wall mount bracket
I have a OCZ mSATA over here.. I hope it works (iif not the costs will increase slightly)
For this price I had no other choice than to buy it... it's overpowered (big time) for my needs, but I guess I can now overdimension my requirements (Snort, Squid...) :)