DIY clone build, based on pfSense's C2758 1U.
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I hand built this system if your interested. Runs like a champ, never had any issues and don't come anywhere close to working it hard on our home network (250/10). I run Snort, Squid/Squid Block, Squid Antivirus as well.
Supermicro 2758 motherboard
https://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Atom/X10/A1SRi-2758F.cfmSupermicro 505 1U chasis
https://www.supermicro.com/products/chassis/1u/505/sc505-203.cfmKingston 8gb DDR3 ram (x2)
Samsung 850 EVO 12gb SSD
Evercool fans x2
Supermicro 2.5in HDD bracket
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Why didn't you go for one of their bare-bones units I linked in my post above?
I pieced things together by waiting for sales prices, and more importantly I like to tinker ;)
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How about this???
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FX8TXUQ
http://www.anandtech.com/show/10689/gigabyte-gbbsi7hal6500-dual-lan-skylake-brix-reviewAt least it bloody ships here & is readily available locally, instead of via "specialised cloak & dagger" resellers etc!
Seems a bit excessive for what I'm wanting to focus it towards, & I really want more flexibility/expandability.
Wanted the ability to have at least 3 WAN interfaces, failing over, or even aggregating/LB occasionally.Or maybe even this???
https://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-Barebone-i3-6100U-Graphic-GB-BSi3HAL-6100/dp/B01GSTYXWMI hate the form-factor of both, I wanted something that'd go into the Rack I'm also installing >.>
But if it's better in every way than the Rangeley & Xeon-D units I was eyeing;*
Then considering how much cheaper & more accessible it is, then maybe it's the way to go?TBH, I still don't know enough about all 3 CPU/MB & all the areas in which they differ, trying to read that now.
Where do these 2 models fall down, compared to the bare-bones units I originally had my heart set on?EDIT
I guess if I need more than 1 WAN port, I could always use the built-in USB3? e.g:
http://www.virtuallyghetto.com/2016/03/functional-usb-3-0-ethernet-adapter-nic-driver-for-esxi-5-5-6-0.html
And there's PCIe IIRC, though not sure it'd be optimal for adding 1 or more Gbe port?
Given I've a separate -much more powerful- build coming, I probably won't bother w.a Hypervisor for this config.
I may play a bit, but longer term probably not…*except expandability & power-consumption presumably
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Regarding
http://www.wiredzone.com/supermicro-servers-compact-embedded-processor-sys-e300-8d-10026325?urlsource=tinkertry
I'm not an expert on pfSense performance etc… however comparing brix i7-6500 vs the xeon 1518 I'd argue that the Xeon has more Cores/threads which will outperform the i7 (which has a higher clock frequency).
The SuperMicro system also has 6 onboard gigabit NICs + 2 x 10Gb Nics.
It's probably overkill, but I would run esxi and share the resources. E.g. Run a plex media server on the same hardware. You could also run FreeNAS.
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Yeah, I'm not sure how exactly that particular Xeon-d + Mobo compares with the Brix systems I highlighted;
It's handy having the 4 Gbe ports I require (at least) OOTB, but more WAN/LAN interfaces can be added to the Brix units via USB3/PCIe.
I don't care about 10Gbe for this build, where the device is placed it won't be used. Hmm…
Still need to know much more about how the CPU/MB's compare for the Ranglesy, i-U, & Xeon-D bare-bones units I'm eyeing.
Not interested in this build being a "NAS" or Media Server", have separate builds under way for that… -
This is the mainboard used in the E300 system:
http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon/D/X10SDV-TP8F.cfm
The SuperMicro is a Server grade Mainboard while the Brix is a Desktop/Consumer grade mainboard.
I understand about not needing 10GB Nic, but at almost the same price as the birx its a nice to have.
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Yeah, read this thread from at least here onwards (interesting read for anyone looking into all of this stuff):
http://www.snbforums.com/threads/recommendations-for-discrete-gw-fw-etc-router.24343/page-3#post-281888
At one point, one of the posters suggested a similar motherboard…
Pretty much settled back on C7258, def. keeping Xeon-D & Others on the radar for a sep. NAS/jack-of-all build!BR.
EDIT
Hmm, I just came across this on the pfSense forum:
https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=88774.0
That's the MB that comes with the bare-bones unit I'm probably buying.
Should this be something I care about? In what circumstances?Nvm, in that thread a recent poster has confirmed it's been fixed -in a newer version of pfSense.
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1U Server:
Server: Supermicro SuperServer 5018D-FN8T
Mainboard: Supermicro X10SDV-TP8F
~$761 (wired zone)
~665 € (Sona)Desktop Server:
Server: Supermicro SuperServer E300-8D
Mainboard: Supermicro X10SDV-TP8F
~$639 (wired zone)
~755 € (Sona)- Enough ports
- Enough power
- An ADI QuickAssist Adapter could be mounted later
- not silent
- high in price for private usage
Togehther with new Switches (L3) D-Link DGS1510-20/24/48 (2 x SFP+) we are thinking about to go with
the Supermicro SuperServer E300-8D all in all for about 1200 € but we are also not really sure about that
because we want to buy two of that units for a HA concept. -
I don't get it, were you addressing one of my earlier posts?
Have you read my most recent posts (& the links in them)? -
Pretty much settled back on C7258, def. keeping Xeon-D & Others on the radar for a sep. NAS/jack-of-all build!
Don't forget it's the C2758.
Anyway, the 2558 is fine for me, and I've bought also for where I work. It's less than 300 euros. Compare that to the boards with the C2758. Then look at the Xeon-D motherboards. Of course they are nice, but only when you have the budget. I spent some extra on proper Intel DC S3510 SSDs.
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Unless you need to build something that's not ready-to-go from the store, it makes not a lot of sense (pun intended) to not buy a product from pfSense/Netgate.
If you have a special case, like, you are re-using what you have, or you need something even bigger than the biggest they have, or maybe you want something that's super cheap (but also performs like shit), then sure, making something yourself makes sense.
You can maybe shave off a few bucks when you try to duplicate what's in the store already, but you're basically saving a tiny amount of money and pfSense gets nothing. The software is free, yes, but buying "known good" hardware from the store is good for you and good for pfSense. They are not overpriced or low quality either, and the free support incidents you get to use are not a bad deal either.
I know it all sounds a bit 'buy stuff!'-advertisement-ish, but I don't work for pfSense or Netgate or ADI or whoever is involved. I'm just slightly worried about the current state of monetary support for pfSense. It's been a great open source project, and free software is all fine and dandy, but they are moving into the prosumer/pro space, and at this quality level you're going to need a commercial-sized cashflow to keep things going and grow. Of course, pfSense's community is a real thing too, and trying to 'make' people buy stuff never works out for anyone. That said, if you really like the project/software/people-spending-time-on-it, maybe get pfSense Gold, even if just for the autoconfigbackup. It's cheap compared to commercial equivalents yet supports the project.
Now back to your topic: instead of duplicating/cloning this build, you may be better off trying to set specs/budget and select parts on that. If you get a mobo where FreeBSD is known to run great on, the rest is somewhat easy. Some motherboards (hell, many!) have bad/broken firmwares and are a PITA to get a working FreeBSD bootloader/kernel working on. There is a FreeBSD HCL somewhere on their wiki you can try, but if you want to be on the safe side, just get a previous-gen board with CSM support in the EFI, then you'll have a really good chance it'll work fine.