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    Intel Mini-ITX Atom 8-core Hardware Build Recipe Available Here

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Hardware
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    • D
      dopey
      last edited by

      i just purchased this build (from amazon and mini-box) with a few minor tweaks (different 4 pin extension cable).

      Thanks for doing all the research and providing it.

      Unfortunately the power brick is out of stock at mini-box for  a couple of weeks so I'll have to wait a bit before being able to fully test everything, but still, this will be a fun nice replacement for my current dd-wrt unit.

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      • T
        trumee
        last edited by

        @codyst:

        Fans (3x Evercool EC4015SH12BP 4-Pin PWM Fans) http://www.directron.com/ec4015sh12bp.html
        Fan Screws (3x Sets of Screws) http://www.directron.com/fanscrews.html

        Did these screws fit the fan?

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        • C
          codyst
          last edited by

          @dopey:

          i just purchased this build (from amazon and mini-box) with a few minor tweaks (different 4 pin extension cable).

          Thanks for doing all the research and providing it.

          Unfortunately the power brick is out of stock at mini-box for  a couple of weeks so I'll have to wait a bit before being able to fully test everything, but still, this will be a fun nice replacement for my current dd-wrt unit.

          I ordered my power brick off ebay and got it in 2 days. http://www.ebay.com/itm/130478987672

          @trumee:

          @codyst:

          Fans (3x Evercool EC4015SH12BP 4-Pin PWM Fans) http://www.directron.com/ec4015sh12bp.html
          Fan Screws (3x Sets of Screws) http://www.directron.com/fanscrews.html

          Did these screws fit the fan?

          They did! Using a screwdriver was a pain in the ass because it was so tight so I went out to the garage and got the power drill.

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          • P
            pfcode
            last edited by

            @codyst:

            I ordered my power brick off ebay and got it in 2 days. http://www.ebay.com/itm/130478987672

            I would avoid any items sold from United States, their Shipping charges and Import charges are totally bullshit.  BTW, Why 150W 12V/12.5A,  Is 60W 12V/5A not good and enough?

            Release: pfSense 2.4.3(amd64)
            M/B: Supermicro A1SRi-2558F
            HDD: Intel X25-M 160G
            RAM: 2x8Gb Kingston ECC ValueRAM
            AP: Netgear R7000 (XWRT), Unifi AC Pro

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            • D
              dopey
              last edited by

              @codyst:

              I ordered my power brick off ebay and got it in 2 days. http://www.ebay.com/itm/130478987672

              Thanks.  I'll order one of those and get my mini-box order cancelled.

              @pfcode:

              I would avoid any items sold from United States, their Shipping charges and Import charges are totally bullshit.  BTW, Why 150W 12V/12.5A,  Is 60W 12V/5A not good and enough?

              Well, I live in the US :)  So that makes it easier.
              The main reason why I'm going with that one is the 4-pin mini-din.  The straight 4-pin power connector is a bit simpler than a picopsu.  I haven't found another unit that has the 4-pin.

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              • C
                codyst
                last edited by

                @dopey:

                @codyst:

                I ordered my power brick off ebay and got it in 2 days. http://www.ebay.com/itm/130478987672

                Thanks.  I'll order one of those and get my mini-box order cancelled.

                No problem! I am just waiting on my RAM to be delivered tomorrow, I went ahead and ordered another 8GB from Amazon for a total of 16GB. The rest of the system is hooked up and boots up fine to the POST screen where it obviously errors out due to no RAM. The IPMI also works and is super cool, I had no idea that existed until researching a pfsense system to build.

                I am looking forward to tomorrow!

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                • R
                  R3Z3N
                  last edited by

                  So, I found a work around to my WAN not aquiring DHCP, which it did at least for 3 days. IGB0 no longer will accept a DHCP address from my cable modem, however it does work fine getting an address from a generic dd-wrt router serving DHCP. I have to use any of the other Ethernet ports to connect the Supermico board to the cable modem. Very very wierd. Currently the more I use pfsense, the more broken it seems, for example even with a clean install of squid3, I only get I-CAP errors. NTP service when setup seems to drop randomly, and the webgui many times is just too slow, or allowing no access with an internal error 500 or 503. Fresh pfsense installs only work for short periods.

                  Supermicro A1SRi-2558F
                  Samsung 850 Evo 120GB

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                  • ?
                    Guest
                    last edited by

                    @codyst

                    I went ahead and ordered another 8GB from Amazon for a total of 16GB.

                    I would guess to high up the mbufs numbers, 16 GB is really enough, better then wasting
                    unused RAM then spending 3 GB in total for a higher mbufs size. I would give this a try.  ;)

                    @Justin0
                    In your signature you have named a Supermicro C2558 mainboard and a SSD.
                    And after a fresh install did you enable TRIM support and PowerD, related to
                    the slow GUI or Interface?

                    Regarding to the NTP Server, did you configure it in this direction:

                    • Setting NTP up on the DD-WRT and then on the pfSense setting up the DD-WRT as the NTP server?
                    • Or did you only setting up the NTP on pfSense and then nothing?
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                    • R
                      R3Z3N
                      last edited by

                      @BlueKobold:

                      @Justin0
                      In your signature you have named a Supermicro C2558 mainboard and a SSD.
                      And after a fresh install did you enable TRIM support and PowerD, related to
                      the slow GUI or Interface?

                      Regarding to the NTP Server, did you configure it in this direction:

                      • Setting NTP up on the DD-WRT and then on the pfSense setting up the DD-WRT as the NTP server?
                      • Or did you only setting up the NTP on pfSense and then nothing?

                      Trim and PowerD enabled.

                      NTP was setup after I tried to deploy PFsense: Internet>Cable Modem>PFSense>DDWRT AP ONLY mode

                      It's not just NTP though, it seems services tend to stop and start randomly, or not work at all. Squid3 antivirus blocks everything w/default settings after fixing the prompts to fix the files once saved, igiving ICAP errors on websites. Disabling IPV6, and saving interfaces (along with disabling IPv6 tracking or DHCP6) results in many log entries about not able to find IPv6 on WAN. Just odd problems that feel like the GUI does not properly alter the settings.

                      Supermicro A1SRi-2558F
                      Samsung 850 Evo 120GB

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                      • M
                        mifronte
                        last edited by

                        Does anyone know a definitive way to enable trim on this motherboard?

                        I searched, but there are so many methods, I don't know which one to use for version 2.2.4.  Is the boot in single user mode and running

                        
                        /sbin/tunefs -t enable /
                        /sbin/reboot
                        
                        

                        the recommended way to enable trim?  Will this persist between reboots and upgrades?

                        Also, what is everyone using for PowerD settings for this build recipe?

                        SuperMicro Atom C2758 A1SRI-2758F 16GB
                        2.7.2 (amd64)

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                        • R
                          R3Z3N
                          last edited by

                          The above is how I enabled trim. Again just make sure you are in single user mode, which I did over IPMI.

                          Supermicro A1SRi-2558F
                          Samsung 850 Evo 120GB

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                          • ?
                            Guest
                            last edited by

                            the recommended way to enable trim?

                            At first I would even have a look on the tech specs. from the SSD, mSATA, SSD-DOM or SATA-DOM
                            or what ever you have installed in your pfSense box!!! Because there are some devices that not
                            accepting any TRIM orders and for this it is not really fine to enable the TRIM support.

                            But if your device is accepting and supporting TRIM I would also at  first have a look in the OS
                            that TRIM is enabled or not and then if this was not done during the installation process I would try
                            enabling it.

                            Will this persist between reboots and upgrades?

                            Many things can be done by set up a /loader.conf.local that during the updates and upgrades
                            many things would be not wiped away, the other option is to work it out by using scripts that
                            should stored in a place that will be not affected by the upgrade or update process, so that they
                            all can be run with a cron job after those processes.

                            Also, what is everyone using for PowerD settings for this build recipe?

                            This can be really different each from another! Because this tends mostly on the running services,
                            installed packages, amount of users, network load and much other things that plays together.

                            So it is not a really "We have all the same Supermicro Board and should use then all the same settings"
                            or something likes that. I one situation it will be the best to go without, and in other situations it is better
                            to go with min, max, adaptive or high adaptive mode, but this tends really on every single situation and
                            offered services, usage, number of users, or what ever is your situation at your place.

                            In one way it is for CPUs or SoCs with so called "CPU turbo clock" but this can also be differ
                            from other CPUs or SoCs with more then one CPU core for using it for power saving´s.

                            But this settings are often affect the whole system performance and so it can be different
                            what users are choosing to go with, this often is more related to their system and config.
                            At many mainboards this must also activated in the BIOS first to use it.

                            PowerD minimum = is using only the minimum CPU frequency
                            PowerD maximum = is using only the maximum CPU frequency
                            PowerD adaptive = ?
                            PowerD highadaptive = is using from the minimum to the maximum CPU frequency

                            In FreeBSD that is also called "powerd flags" if want to search by your own over this settings.

                            As an example:
                            Alix APU 1D4 Board without PowerD enabled shows up max. ~450 MBit/s throughput (iPerf)
                            Alix APU 1D4 Board with PowerD enabled shows up max. ~650 Mbit/s - 750 Mbit/s throughput (iPerf)

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                            • D
                              dopey
                              last edited by

                              Got my case, ssd, memory, and board.  (no fans or power supply yet).

                              Hooked up a regular ATX power supply I have sitting around and am tinkering with the IPMI configuration to try to get SOL working with pfsense so I can make configuring this thing completely without the need to hook anything up directly to it.

                              @codyst:

                              No problem! I am just waiting on my RAM to be delivered tomorrow, I went ahead and ordered another 8GB from Amazon for a total of 16GB. The rest of the system is hooked up and boots up fine to the POST screen where it obviously errors out due to no RAM. The IPMI also works and is super cool, I had no idea that existed until researching a pfsense system to build.

                              I'm the last person to "question" overkill :)
                              But is 16gb really necessary, or is it overkill?  I know one SODIMM isn't taking advantage of dual channel, but does is that really going to make a difference here?  And under what conditions would one really need/want 16GB ram for pfsense?

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                              • ?
                                Guest
                                last edited by

                                ~2 GB for highing up the mbufs size (if used)
                                ~2 GB for the ClamAV (if used)
                                ~4 GB for Squid (depends on what caching method is used)
                                ~4 GB - 8 GB for pfSense & Snort (if snort will be used)

                                Ok this might be then more likes a full featured UTM appliance
                                but why not if he is willing to use it in this way?

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                                • D
                                  dopey
                                  last edited by

                                  @BlueKobold:

                                  Ok this might be then more likes a full featured UTM appliance
                                  but why not if the he is willing to use it in this way?

                                  Don't get me wrong.  If someone wants to and can, why the hell not :)
                                  I'm asking because I'm genuinely curious why someone would need that much ram.

                                  Because, you know, it might convince me to get that much RAM :)

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                                  • C
                                    codyst
                                    last edited by

                                    @dopey:

                                    @BlueKobold:

                                    Ok this might be then more likes a full featured UTM appliance
                                    but why not if the he is willing to use it in this way?

                                    Don't get me wrong.  If someone wants to and can, why the hell not :)
                                    I'm asking because I'm genuinely curious why someone would need that much ram.

                                    Because, you know, it might convince me to get that much RAM :)

                                    It's because I live in Texas, where everything is bigger!

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                                    • P
                                      pfcode
                                      last edited by

                                      @dopey:

                                      I'm the last person to "question" overkill :)
                                      But is 16gb really necessary, or is it overkill?  I know one SODIMM isn't taking advantage of dual channel, but does is that really going to make a difference here?  And under what conditions would one really need/want 16GB ram for pfsense?

                                      My current pfSense box has only 2Gb Ram, AMD Dual Cores processor,  running Snort (WAN and LAN) + IPBlockerNG without any issue,  Memory was used about 19%, PowerD was turned on.  It was also running Squid3+iCap+ClamAV too before, still had no issues at all.

                                      If you use SSD, want to use ramdisk, the more RAM the better.  If you want have best Snort performance (e.g. set search mode to AC-NQ), It requires more RAM.

                                      If the 8G ECC ram is cheaper in US, Why not.  Here in Canada, the cheapest Kingston ValueRAM 8Gb ECC (KVR16LSE11/8KF) is $CAD 81 + Tax + Shipping charges = ~100:

                                      http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8868966&CatId=11484

                                      Release: pfSense 2.4.3(amd64)
                                      M/B: Supermicro A1SRi-2558F
                                      HDD: Intel X25-M 160G
                                      RAM: 2x8Gb Kingston ECC ValueRAM
                                      AP: Netgear R7000 (XWRT), Unifi AC Pro

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • ?
                                        Guest
                                        last edited by

                                        My current pfSense box has only 2Gb Ram, AMD Dual Cores processor,  running Snort (WAN and LAN) + IPBlockerNG without any issue,  Memory was used about 19%, PowerD was turned on.  It was also running Squid3+iCap+ClamAV too before, still had no issues at all.

                                        Ok if it is running also without any problems for sure why not, but
                                        then you are truly not from Texas.  ;)

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                                        • D
                                          dopey
                                          last edited by

                                          Ugh.
                                          The supermicro board is very sensitive to ATX power supplies apparently.  I was using a spare Forton power supply that technically fits all of the requirements.  ATX 2.2, eps12v, etc etc.

                                          but it only intermittently powered on the board.  IPMI was powered on successfully 100% of the time though but shorting the power pins wasn't powering up the board - it wasn't activating the power supply.

                                          Spent all night trying to troubleshoot it, and then finally got fed up, and went and got my other spare power supply (asus neo550) and it worked 100% of the time.

                                          I'm not planning on powering it permanently with this PS, just waiting for my external mini-din power brick to arrive, but if anyone else is planning to power it with an ATX supply, keep that in mind.

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                                          • P
                                            pfcode
                                            last edited by

                                            @dopey:

                                            Ugh.
                                            The supermicro board is very sensitive to ATX power supplies apparently.  I was using a spare Forton power supply that technically fits all of the requirements.  ATX 2.2, eps12v, etc etc.

                                            but it only intermittently powered on the board.  IPMI was powered on successfully 100% of the time though but shorting the power pins wasn't powering up the board - it wasn't activating the power supply.

                                            Spent all night trying to troubleshoot it, and then finally got fed up, and went and got my other spare power supply (asus neo550) and it worked 100% of the time.

                                            I'm not planning on powering it permanently with this PS, just waiting for my external mini-din power brick to arrive, but if anyone else is planning to power it with an ATX supply, keep that in mind.

                                            Hmmm, I thought any ATX power supply should be fine.  Thats odd.  Did you try the 4pin or 24pin?

                                            Release: pfSense 2.4.3(amd64)
                                            M/B: Supermicro A1SRi-2558F
                                            HDD: Intel X25-M 160G
                                            RAM: 2x8Gb Kingston ECC ValueRAM
                                            AP: Netgear R7000 (XWRT), Unifi AC Pro

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