Netgate Discussion Forum
    • Categories
    • Recent
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Users
    • Search
    • Register
    • Login

    X11SBA-LN4F vs A1SRi-2558F

    Hardware
    41
    212
    115.7k
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • jahonixJ
      jahonix
      last edited by

      Do Intel Pentium N3700 Processors support AES-NI?

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • J
        JimPhreak
        last edited by

        @jahonix:

        Do Intel Pentium N3700 Processors support AES-NI?

        Yes.

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • P
          pfcode
          last edited by

          @JimPhreak:

          @jahonix:

          Do Intel Pentium N3700 Processors support AES-NI?

          Yes.

          No QuickAssist

          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

            I'm wondering how it stacks up as it's slightly less money.

            ~250 € vs ~280 € (here in Germany)
            4 core vs 4 cores
            6 Watt TDP vs 15 Watt TDP
            8 GB vs 64 GB
            1600/1333/1066MHz DDR3 SO-DIMM vs 1600/1333/ DDR3 SO-DIMM
            non ECC vs ECC or non ECC
            1,35 V vs 1,35 - 1,50 V
            AES-NI vs AES-NI & IQAT
            2x COM ports in headers vs 2x Fast UART 16550 Serial Port (1 rear, 1 via header)
            HD Graphics with 1x HDMI & 1x DP (Display Port), 1x VGA for BMC vs VGA

            It seems that the C2558 platform is more pointed to be server like hardware and the N3700 is
            more oriented to be for lower end market, or am I wrong with this?

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • R
              rexki
              last edited by

              SuperMicro SuperServer E200-9B - http://www.supermicro.com/products/system/Mini-ITX/SYS-E200-9B.cfm
              (ITX) (mini-ITX)

              • N3700  - 14nm SoC - 4/4 -  1.6 - 2.4Ghz - AES-NI
              • 2.5 SATA int bay or use the Super Micro SuperDOM port and boot on that instead $58
              • 4 GigE LAN Intel I210-AT
              • IPMI 2.0 lan KVM
              • 1xVGA!!!  1xHDMI  1xDP
              • 2x sodimm slots -  8gb max
              • 1x mSata slot
                1 1x db9 male serial
                2x USB3
                2x USB2
                1x pci-e 8x expansion slot - Could add an extra 4 GigE ports in a different case.

              System board is the X11SBA-LN4F (Amazon $300) - put this at ITX board at 6 watts + CPU 3.5 watts + 1 for ram + .5 for hard drive - no radio = 11 watts average??

              21 watt delta saves me  920 KWh or $156 over 5 year life.

              Showing up on Ebay at $500

              pfSense 2.3.4-Release(amd64) - 31 watts Min d-power mode - 843-853 mbps across LANs -  i5-2400 3xGigE - Asus P8H61-M -All slotted Intel single NICS EM drivers -  shooting for 6 watts - to save $27/year in electricity.  In Hawaii $50 per year savings over 20 watt delta!!

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • E
                Engineer
                last edited by

                Just finished installing a pfsense system on the X11SBA-LN4F.

                Components:

                X11SBA-L4NF: $216.99 shipped from CompSource
                Sandisk 128 GB SSD: $35 shipped from Jet.com
                Antec ISK 110 case: $39.50 shipped from Staples.com
                2 x 4GB Samsung PC1600 DDR3L: $36 shipped from eBay

                (I know…much overkill but was bored and needed a project)

                Does indeed pull 11 Watts at the wall using the above components (measured using a Kill-A-Watt at the wall).

                Fanless and barely warm to the touch.  CPU running 35C.  Something in the system (listed as peripheral) runs between 51 and 55C.

                Still a pfsense 'newbie' so just setting up and tweaking.  System is overkill for my home but should be future-proof for faster broadband (hopefully) in the future.  Having never run a board with IPMI, I really like that feature for setup, hardware and console (pfsense) monitoring remotely across the LAN.

                Edit:  I installed pfsense and let it run for 4 days with no WAN connection (only a LAN connection with no DHCP for setup / monitoring).  It would always come up to the GUI.  Since installing it, it has crashed (no Internet, no ping, no DHCP, no GUI) twice.  However, the console still works.  I have to reboot the machine to get to the GUI/Internet again.  Nothing in the logs other than they just abruptly stop.  Ran Memtest86+ for a complete run (a few hours) and zero errors.  Any thoughts as to where to start?

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

                  Any thoughts as to where to start?

                  A proper WAN connection should be up and running. And why not connecting the pfSense to
                  the Internet, for sure for playing around it is not really necessary and urgent but for the fully
                  functionality of the pfSense box it should be the best option for you.

                  • Activate TRIM Support in pfSense for the SSD if the SSD is capable of the TRIM support
                  • Activate PowerD (hi adaptive) to get the right CPU frequency and proper TurboBoost options as well*
                  • Perhaps and if needed you could be also high up the mbuf size if needed and enough RAM is available
                  • Create a /boot/loader.conf.local file for making all the custom set ups and tweaks persistent against upgrades
                  • Not really a must be, but it could be helping out in some situations
                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • E
                    Engineer
                    last edited by

                    @BlueKobold:

                    Any thoughts as to where to start?

                    A proper WAN connection should be up and running. And why not connecting the pfSense to
                    the Internet, for sure for playing around it is not really necessary and urgent but for the fully
                    functionality of the pfSense box it should be the best option for you.

                    • Activate TRIM Support in pfSense for the SSD if the SSD is capable of the TRIM support.
                    • Activate PowerD (hi adaptive) to get the right CPU frequency and proper TurboBoost options as well.
                    • Perhaps and if needed you could be also high up the mbuf size if needed and enough RAM is available
                    • Create a /boot/loader.conf.local file for making all the custom set ups and tweaks persistent against upgrades
                    • Not really a must be, but it could be helping out in some situations

                    It is currently on the Internet.  I was testing hardware for a few days to make sure that nothing failed.  In my long experience with electronics, they tend to fail within the first few weeks.  Just wanted to get that out of the way.

                    I'll look into TRIM.  Didn't know that option was available.  However, I don't think that this would be causing the issue at hand.
                    Had already activated PowerD (hi adaptive).  Have also tried other options with no effects (other than a slower GUI.
                    Had already changed mbuf size to the recommended size for Intel NIC's per a guide (found via Google several days ago).  No change.
                    Will create the loader.conf.local file for what you recommend.  If I downgrade (to try 2.1.5 for example), will this file hold persistent settings or will it only work for upgrades?

                    I might try a 2.2.5 snapshot for kicks.  I really need stability and if I can't get it on the current version, I'll switch it up a bit.  If I can't get it on those, I'll go back to regular router for now until I work it out.  Wife hates interruptions in Internet and home television (Windows Media Center, Xbox 360 extenders and two HDHomerun primes).  I have also turned off AES-NI for my N3700 for now to see if that has any effect.

                    The system seems to run for anywhere from an hour to 2 days before locking (again, console still works - I can remote into it via IPMI and it's responsive.  I usually have to reboot from there).

                    One more thing: Apologies up front as I'm completely new to FreeBSD so I'll have to learn how to do things (like create files, edit files, etc).  Looks like I can shell into the system and use 'ee' as an editor to create / edit files.  Once created, I can use the built in editor of pfsense to edit them (or maybe I can create and edit them from pfsense).  That's just stuff that I'll learn off to the side so please be patient as I may not know how to do some of these things but I'll google it to death to learn! :)

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • JailerJ
                      Jailer
                      last edited by

                      @Engineer What are you using for a power supply?

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • E
                        Engineer
                        last edited by

                        @Jailer…the built in 90W supply (new) for the Antec ISK-110.  The Kill-a-Watt shows 11 watts pulled at the wall.

                        It could be power supply but since the console doesn't drop (nor did memtest or the system when I had a USB DVD burner attached), I would think the power seems OK.

                        I don't know if the SuperMicro logs power issues or not.  IPMI page shows everything very good (very close to rated).

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • R
                          rexki
                          last edited by

                          I have had a SuperMicro and Asus servers lock up on the IPMI access and the best help has always been to check for BIOS updates.  Other firmwares on the system board from big iron True Raid controllers and the BMI firmware for the IPMI can fight the system board bios and cause this inability to access - It should not be related to pfSense as long as the cord is connected and you have a client on the same subnet with the BMI  and client sharing the same gateway IP.

                          Also Java (Remote redirected video console app) can get really screwed up in a way I cannot decipher and reboots fix that usually.

                          Glad you confirmed 11 watts - that is an awesome number for a Quad core 2MB cache ITS board with plenty of horsepower - I think this N3700 has the same power as the C2558 and J1900 but with better power efficiency.  I do now worry about ECC memory requirements since it not a File Server - its really an appliance.

                          pfSense 2.3.4-Release(amd64) - 31 watts Min d-power mode - 843-853 mbps across LANs -  i5-2400 3xGigE - Asus P8H61-M -All slotted Intel single NICS EM drivers -  shooting for 6 watts - to save $27/year in electricity.  In Hawaii $50 per year savings over 20 watt delta!!

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • JailerJ
                            Jailer
                            last edited by

                            @Engineer:

                            @Jailer…the built in 90W supply (new) for the Antec ISK-110.  The Kill-a-Watt shows 11 watts pulled at the wall.

                            It could be power supply but since the console doesn't drop (nor did memtest or the system when I had a USB DVD burner attached), I would think the power seems OK.

                            I don't know if the SuperMicro logs power issues or not.  IPMI page shows everything very good (very close to rated).

                            Well my first guess would have been instability due to poor power supply but I can't find anything on the one used in that case. If it were me I'd still try to find another suitable power supply to try out and see if that helps.

                            Such are the pitfalls of blazing trails with new hardware…......

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • JailerJ
                              Jailer
                              last edited by

                              @Engineer:

                              I don't know if the SuperMicro logs power issues or not.  IPMI page shows everything very good (very close to rated).

                              Check the event log in the IPMI page and see if anything shows up there. It's under Server Health -> Event Log

                              Edit: Just noticed from your other post your mention of a usb DVD burner. No need for it, you can mount an ISO file in the KVM viewer and install from there. IPMI is awesome.

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • E
                                Engineer
                                last edited by

                                @Jailer:

                                @Engineer:

                                I don't know if the SuperMicro logs power issues or not.  IPMI page shows everything very good (very close to rated).

                                Check the event log in the IPMI page and see if anything shows up there. It's under Server Health -> Event Log

                                Edit: Just noticed from your other post your mention of a usb DVD burner. No need for it, you can mount an ISO file in the KVM viewer and install from there. IPMI is awesome.

                                Yea, I found that after the initial setup using the DVD burner.  Having never used IPMI before, I didn't even have it connected to the network until after the first crash.  I saw the virtual drive (using an image) in the viewer.  I agree that IPMI is awesome so far.

                                I see nothing under the Event Log on the IPMI KVM viewer.

                                This is the first board that I've ever had that has an IPMI port….really do like this feature!!!!!

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • J
                                  jjduru
                                  last edited by

                                  Were you able to stabilize it by any chance? If yes, what did you do and with what pfsense version?

                                  At this point I am debating between Supermicro X10SBA-L and Supermicro X11SBA-LN4F. I was dead set to get the first one, until I noticed that the Intel N3700 version has AES new instructions set.

                                  So I am kind of waiting on your thread to see if it's yay or nay. Surprisingly, your thread is almost the only useful thread on the X11SBA-LN4F mainboard so you're opening new paths here.

                                  Thanks,

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • E
                                    Engineer
                                    last edited by

                                    @jjduru:

                                    Were you able to stabilize it by any chance? If yes, what did you and with what pfsense version?

                                    At this point I am debating between Supermicro X10SBA-L and Supermicro X11SBA-LN4F. I was dead set to get the first one, until I noticed that the Intel N3700 version has AES new instructions set.

                                    So I am kind of waiting on your thread to see if it's yay or nay. Surprisingly, your thread is almost the only useful thread on the X11SBA-LN4F mainboard so you're opening new paths here.

                                    Thanks,

                                    I'm tinkering with disabling hardware offload settings right now to see if it stabilizes.  Takes quite a while to test because it has gone days between crashing before.  Oh, and for the record, I had actually bought the X10SBA-L but cancelled the order because of the lower power and AES-NI instructions of the X11SBA-LN4F.  It was $80 more but for future proofing (and a test showing the difference AES-NI adds to encrypted throughput), I chose the X11 board.

                                    I'll keep this updated.  I'm still on 2.2.4 for now.

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • J
                                      jjduru
                                      last edited by

                                      Is your mainboard having the latest BIOS version by any chance?

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • E
                                        Engineer
                                        last edited by

                                        @jjduru:

                                        Is your mainboard having the latest BIOS version by any chance?

                                        I went to the SuperMicro site the day I received the board.  They didn't have ANY BIOS posted…for the main board nor the IPMI BIOS.  I'll check again but don't think there is anything new there.

                                        Edit:  Nothing shows up (yet)....not even the first release BIOS or IPMI firmware.

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • J
                                          jjduru
                                          last edited by

                                          @Engineer,

                                          I empathize with you for the troubles you're going through with that motherboard model, but in the end I guess I'll cough up the money to go for a Supermicro A1SRi-2558F. It's on long term support from Supermicro, FreeBSD 10 certified, AES-NI + QuickAssist. As you, I probably don't need headaches but reliability in the long shot.

                                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • E
                                            Engineer
                                            last edited by

                                            @jjduru:

                                            @Engineer,

                                            I empathize with you for the troubles you're going through with that motherboard model, but in the end I guess I'll cough up the money to go for a Supermicro A1SRi-2558F. It's on long term support from Supermicro, FreeBSD 10 certified, AES-NI + QuickAssist. As you, I probably don't need headaches but reliability in the long shot.

                                            Well, it's been up longer than it has been so far (over two days now) and I suspect that it will get better as time goes on (and the software bugs get squashed).  If the bug I posted about in another thread (quoted below) is the true culprit, it would seem that anything Intel related (at least with same driver) could be effected by this.  Since FreeBSD development has recent posts about this, I would guess it would be solved fairly soon.  It wouldn't be so bad to troubleshoot if the family (wife and kids) didn't come flying to me within 20 seconds of the Internet going down (even at 2:00am in the morning).

                                            @Engineer:

                                            Reading some more, I found this thread (https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=96325.0) which is Intel related but I'm not so sure it doesn't go beyond that.  Seem FreeBSD 10.1 has an issue that needs to be corrected at the OS level that 'could' be causing this.

                                            https://bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=199174

                                            States "In Progress" under status.

                                            Not sure if this effects Realtek cards or not but reading though the freebsd.org link,  the symptoms sound exactly like mine and yours too.

                                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                            • First post
                                              Last post
                                            Copyright 2025 Rubicon Communications LLC (Netgate). All rights reserved.