GB-BSi3HAL-6100 (dual Intel ports) Mini-PC has anyone tried this with Pfsense?

RAND0M1ZER

@Spencer1990:

I just ordered the i5 6200u version of this for my first pfsense build. So I will let you know how it goes once I receive it and set it up.

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=5871#ov

Awesome, thanks I would appreciate that

sojjan

+1

gcu_greyarea

Also interested to hear how pfSense will run on GB-BSi5HAL.

Slightly off topic:
The i5 appears to be quite powerful for home use. It may make sense to share resources and run a virtual instance of pfSense.
The Brix has 1 X intel i210AT and 1 X intel i219LM

Does anyone run ESXi on the GB-BSi5HAL ?

Can the i210AT or i219LM be passed through to a pfSense VM? (Vt-d)

I'd prefer to pass through the i210AT as WAN port for a pfSense VM and use the i219LM for LAN/VM Network.

Spencer1990

Hi there just wanted to update you guys on this build.

First thing after an hour or so of frustration I found out that you have to use pfsense 2.4 because it has uefi bios support.
After that everything installs easily. I setup openvpn using aes256cbc and sha256 and I'm able to hit my max line speeds 150/150 using around 45% cpu.
The form factor is great too and very easy to open and install your ssd and ram of choice. I would definitely recommend this mini pc.

Thanks
Spencer

mauroman33

@Spencer1990:

Hi there just wanted to update you guys on this build.

First thing after an hour or so of frustration I found out that you have to use pfsense 2.4 because it has uefi bios support.
After that everything installs easily. I setup openvpn using aes256cbc and sha256 and I'm able to hit my max line speeds 150/150 using around 45% cpu.
The form factor is great too and very easy to open and install your ssd and ram of choice. I would definitely recommend this mini pc.

Thanks
Spencer

Ciao,
did you used snort during that test?
I'm curious because it has a huge impact on the cpu usage.

jalyst

I've been looking at this, ya'll reckon it's massive overkill, or could it be worthwhile in the right circumstances?
http://www.anandtech.com/show/10689/gigabyte-gbbsi7hal6500-dual-lan-skylake-brix-review
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FX8TXUQ

Pretty sure the fastest link (before any load-balancing/aggregation) we can get via Cable is ~105/5 (must double-check).
We will probably use VPN quite heavily…

I have plans for an entirely separate NAS/jack-of-all build, which will be much more powerful.
So I don't want to use this build as the platform for anything but a Fw/Router etc.

sojjan

Cool!

Gonna get the GB-BSi5HAL-6200 real soon.

But isn't the latest version 2.3.2? Where do i find ver 2.4?

:P

gcu_greyarea

@jalyst

For the price of the i7 Brix you might as well get one of these:

http://www.wiredzone.com/supermicro-servers-compact-embedded-processor-sys-e300-8d-10026325?urlsource=tinkertry

jalyst

Interesting thanks, how do they compare IYO, in other words;
Why would you say it's a much better offering, for the intended application?
Might be best to respond in my thread, so we don't derail this one:
https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=93616.30

BR.

Guest

@gcu_greyarea:

@jalyst

For the price of the i7 Brix you might as well get one of these:

http://www.wiredzone.com/supermicro-servers-compact-embedded-processor-sys-e300-8d-10026325?urlsource=tinkertry

And the SYS-E300-D8 is more powerful in my eyes as the Supermicro C2758 and there fore you must
pay something around 800 € and this is for ~755 € here in Germany!

jalyst

Huh? Can you please clarify your point. ???

Also note the SmallNetBuilder thread I linked earlier in my thread;
https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=93616.msg657157#msg657157
See the discussion we had there, before I settled on the C series.

So as to avoid derailing this thread…
It might be best for you to quote this post, & respond in my thread.

Spencer1990

@Spencer1990:

Hi there just wanted to update you guys on this build.

First thing after an hour or so of frustration I found out that you have to use pfsense 2.4 because it has uefi bios support.
After that everything installs easily. I setup openvpn using aes256cbc and sha256 and I'm able to hit my max line speeds 150/150 using around 45% cpu.
The form factor is great too and very easy to open and install your ssd and ram of choice. I would definitely recommend this mini pc.

Thanks
Spencer

Hi there a little update on the cpu usage I had my info wrong. The max I have seen is 15% cpu usage and load average of 0.7 while maxing my 150Mbps connection on openvpn using aes256cbc and sha256. I was only maxing the download so I imagine if I maxed the upload too at the same time it would max out at 30% cpu usage. Thanks

dingdong

Hi,

I bought the i5 Version. And it is possible to run 2.3.2 on this hardware. The installation took a little bit more time but it worked. Both network adapters are recognized. After work I will test more.

Spencer1990

@dingdong:

Hi,

I bought the i5 Version. And it is possible to run 2.3.2 on this hardware. The installation took a little bit more time but it worked. Both network adapters are recognized. After work I will test more.

Really? How long did the install take because when I tried to install 2.3.2 it was stuck on loading boot/kernel after clicking enter to install and I waited at least 5-10 mins. Thanks

dingdong

Hi Spencer,

in the Bios/UEFI set the "OS type" to Windows 7. The boot time till the install screen appear take about 10 -15 min. After that the install went fast.
Yesterday I configured all I needed and everything worked fine (Including VPN 50Mbit/5% CPU Usage).

Deepcuts

Weird that 15W max they state given that i3-6100T has 35W TDP http://ark.intel.com/products/90734/Intel-Core-i3-6100T-Processor-3M-Cache-3_20-GHz

haykong

@Deepcuts:

Weird that 15W max they state given that i3-6100T has 35W TDP http://ark.intel.com/products/90734/Intel-Core-i3-6100T-Processor-3M-Cache-3_20-GHz

What's weird? the 15w is for the 6100u or "u" line of processors which is the ultra lower mobile processors. The "T" line of processors (desktop line) has a TDP of 35w which is still lower than my 2nd Gen i7 Quad Core Mobile processor (TDP 45w) for socket G2 on a jetway motherboard.

haykong

For those that have the GB-BSi5HAL, is it possible to configure it to 7.5w TDP? Is it via BIOS? I know the U line of processors according to Intel is suppose to be configurable.

futzl

I built a pfsense router using this hardware today (8gb ram and M2 - really easy build). As noted above, set OS in BIOS to Windows 7 and then run through normal install. It does take quite a while to install so be patient but once installed booting very quick. The BIOS btw. is from yesteryear. I understand that these SFF PCs are supposed to be foolproof so not much to configure but the BIOS is shockingly bare and as far as I can see no way to update BIOS except via Windows (maybe possible via UEFI shell but I couldn't find any howtos).
This is a very small compact unit with 2 intel NICs, can't hear the fan at all, very nice system indeed.
Will be running some VPN tests in the coming days to test bandwidth and will update.

Legion

I also have built a home server based on this box with ESXi 6.0u2 running at the moment pfSense 2.3 and Ubuntu Server 16.04.1. I got the BSi3HAL-6100 with generic 16GB Kingston RAM and a 2TB Seagate hard drive. ESXi is on a 16GB USB stick. I've got WAN coming in on the 211 and LAN on the 219. Still in the testing phase but it feels great for now. I didn't have to do anything special to it, except I'm using ESXi host client and it ignores the autoboot sequence set in the GUI, so my VMs are dead when I reboot the host. A day or two ago I discovered a command line setting that possibly enables autoboot (where it maybe wasn't before despite the GUI settings) so I've set that but haven't rebooted the host yet to see if it works.

The other big thing I'm scared to do is I set the ESXi management interface on the WAN so I could configure from a computer on the existing network but at the moment that's running via a switch through my existing pfSense 2.2 router, i.e. it's getting a WAN address from DHCP from the old router. At some stage I will have to switch the management interface to the host's LAN interface, pull out the WAN cable, plug the modem directly into WAN and switch new pfSense to PPPoE on WAN. I'm sure when that happens I'll screw it up and lose connectively to either my host, pfSense, my server or a combination of all three and not be able to get back in. No matter, I've already reinstalled ESXi twice after screwing up similarly.

I didn't have to do anything special in the BIOS or anywhere else to enable NICs or client VMs to work. The one thing I need to change is auto power on after power loss.

At the moment, while still configuring, I have 1GB RAM and 1CPU for Ubuntu and 4GB and 1CPU for pfSense but I'm not doing anything special. Ubuntu is only running Freeradius, mysql, Unifi controller. pfSense is still vanilla.