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    New build for 1G speeds

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    • P
      physwm2501
      last edited by

      I am currently using an Asus RT-AC66U which does a fair job most of the time but can definitely get overwhelmed depending on what is being used on the network.  This runs to a tp-link 16 port switch.

      My current internet speed is 1G up and down and I may look at upgrading this to 2.5G so having something that is expandable is ideal.  If I end up starting a business I will probably get the 10G but that sort of equipment is out of my price range at this point.

      Currently have anywhere between 10-50 devices on the network at any point, not doing anything too elaborate.

      What sort of hardware should I be looking into?  A rackmount solution would be ideal.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • K
        Keljian
        last edited by

        What is your budget?

        Of those clients, how many are wireless vs wired?

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • P
          physwm2501
          last edited by

          @Keljian:

          What is your budget?

          Of those clients, how many are wireless vs wired?

          Right now I would say from 300-800.  The idea is to get something better then my current router setup for now that I would be able to upgrade later.  So possibly keeping the Enclosure, hdd, nics the same and only upgrading the CPU and ram at a later point.

          Currently have 14 devices directly wired and then another 20 over wireless.  I would switch my current router over to an AP once the new router is in place.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • K
            Keljian
            last edited by

            Is upgradable a requirement?

            https://store.pfsense.org/SG-4860-1U/ ? (includes support, "just works", low power)

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • P
              physwm2501
              last edited by

              It's not a requirement I just enjoy doing these as DIY projects.

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

                It's not a requirement I just enjoy doing these as DIY projects.

                Supermicro C2758 board
                30/60/120 GB SSD
                PicoPSU 160 Watt
                M350 case
                8 GB RAM

                My current internet speed is 1G up and down and I may look at upgrading this to 2.5G so having something that is expandable is ideal.

                Intel G3260T, Core i3 or Xeon E3 will do the job for you, perhaps also the Xeon D-1500 platform will do
                the job too.

                If I end up starting a business I will probably get the 10G but that sort of equipment is out of my price range at this point.

                For the LAN or WAN side?

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

                  @BlueKobold:

                  Supermicro C2758 board
                  30/60/120 GB SSD
                  PicoPSU 160 Watt
                  M350 case
                  8 GB RAM

                  Supermicro A1SRi-2758F accepts a direct 12v input. Pico PSU is not needed, just a 12v power brick and an appropriate 4 pin P4 12v adapter.

                  Other Features
                  Chassis intrusion detection
                  Chassis intrusion header
                  4-pin 12V DC power input or 24-pin ATX Power input

                  http://www.supermicro.com.tw/products/motherboard/atom/x10/a1sri-2758f.cfm

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • M
                    mattyd
                    last edited by

                    That 160W power supply is also supreme overkill unless you're running several power hungry spinning disks.

                    My 2758 build runs about 15.8-16.2W under my typical usage (basically idle, since it is overkill).  You likely won't see lower than that.

                    Serve The Home did power benchmarking at different loads, including maxing traffic through all four interfaces.  Their test rig was measured SSD, ram, processor and motherboard:

                    http://www.servethehome.com/intel-atom-c2550-power-consumption-comparison/

                    Round up to 40W, add in whatever your cooling needs, and toss in peak spin up draw for your hard drive if it is a spinning disk.  With my SSD-based build, I went with a 60W Seasonic 12V power supply because I believe it is higher quality than the bricks sold with the PicoPSUs.  I've always had good luck with Seasonic power supplies.

                    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=376-000S-00001

                    I also built it in a Supermicro mini-ITX case and it was a pretty smooth build.  I have a half written post with some pictures lying around that I should finish up this weekend.

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • P
                      physwm2501
                      last edited by

                      It's not a requirement I just enjoy doing these as DIY projects.

                      Supermicro C2758 board
                      30/60/120 GB SSD
                      PicoPSU 160 Watt
                      M350 case
                      8 GB RAM

                      This looks like it would be a solid starting point and the platform I've been doing the most research on.

                      My current internet speed is 1G up and down and I may look at upgrading this to 2.5G so having something that is expandable is ideal.

                      Intel G3260T, Core i3 or Xeon E3 will do the job for you, perhaps also the Xeon D-1500 platform will do
                      the job too.

                      The other option was the D-1500 as it looks like it can handle the possible 10G

                      If I end up starting a business I will probably get the 10G but that sort of equipment is out of my price range at this point.

                      For the LAN or WAN side?

                      This would be for both WAN and LAN side.

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

                        @physwm2501:

                        @BlueKobold:

                        It's not a requirement I just enjoy doing these as DIY projects.

                        Supermicro C2758 board
                        30/60/120 GB SSD
                        PicoPSU 160 Watt
                        M350 case
                        8 GB RAM

                        This looks like it would be a solid starting point.

                        My current internet speed is 1G up and down and I may look at upgrading this to 2.5G so having something that is expandable is ideal.

                        Intel G3260T, Core i3 or Xeon E3 will do the job for you, perhaps also the Xeon D-1500 platform will do
                        the job too.

                        If I end up starting a business I will probably get the 10G but that sort of equipment is out of my price range at this point.

                        For the LAN or WAN side?

                        This would be for both WAN and LAN side.

                        my recent build would work well for you - https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=113610.0

                        pfSense i5-4590
                        940/880 mbit Fiber Internet from FiOS
                        BROCADE ICX6450 48Port L3-Managed Switch w/4x 10GB ports
                        Netgear R8000 AP (DD-WRT)

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • P
                          physwm2501
                          last edited by

                          @Paint:

                          @physwm2501:

                          @BlueKobold:

                          It's not a requirement I just enjoy doing these as DIY projects.

                          Supermicro C2758 board
                          30/60/120 GB SSD
                          PicoPSU 160 Watt
                          M350 case
                          8 GB RAM

                          This looks like it would be a solid starting point.

                          My current internet speed is 1G up and down and I may look at upgrading this to 2.5G so having something that is expandable is ideal.

                          Intel G3260T, Core i3 or Xeon E3 will do the job for you, perhaps also the Xeon D-1500 platform will do
                          the job too.

                          If I end up starting a business I will probably get the 10G but that sort of equipment is out of my price range at this point.

                          For the LAN or WAN side?

                          This would be for both WAN and LAN side.

                          my recent build would work well for you - https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=113610.0

                          This looks promising

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • P
                            physwm2501
                            last edited by

                            @mattyd:

                            That 160W power supply is also supreme overkill unless you're running several power hungry spinning disks.

                            My 2758 build runs about 15.8-16.2W under my typical usage (basically idle, since it is overkill).  You likely won't see lower than that.

                            Serve The Home did power benchmarking at different loads, including maxing traffic through all four interfaces.  Their test rig was measured SSD, ram, processor and motherboard:

                            http://www.servethehome.com/intel-atom-c2550-power-consumption-comparison/

                            Round up to 40W, add in whatever your cooling needs, and toss in peak spin up draw for your hard drive if it is a spinning disk.  With my SSD-based build, I went with a 60W Seasonic 12V power supply because I believe it is higher quality than the bricks sold with the PicoPSUs.  I've always had good luck with Seasonic power supplies.

                            http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=376-000S-00001

                            I also built it in a Supermicro mini-ITX case and it was a pretty smooth build.  I have a half written post with some pictures lying around that I should finish up this weekend.

                            That's good to know.  I will be going with an ssd for this system, the only difference is I'll get a 1U rackmout since I already have 2 other rackmount appliances.

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

                              @physwm2501:

                              @mattyd:

                              That 160W power supply is also supreme overkill unless you're running several power hungry spinning disks.

                              My 2758 build runs about 15.8-16.2W under my typical usage (basically idle, since it is overkill).  You likely won't see lower than that.

                              Serve The Home did power benchmarking at different loads, including maxing traffic through all four interfaces.  Their test rig was measured SSD, ram, processor and motherboard:

                              http://www.servethehome.com/intel-atom-c2550-power-consumption-comparison/

                              Round up to 40W, add in whatever your cooling needs, and toss in peak spin up draw for your hard drive if it is a spinning disk.  With my SSD-based build, I went with a 60W Seasonic 12V power supply because I believe it is higher quality than the bricks sold with the PicoPSUs.  I've always had good luck with Seasonic power supplies.

                              http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=376-000S-00001

                              I also built it in a Supermicro mini-ITX case and it was a pretty smooth build.  I have a half written post with some pictures lying around that I should finish up this weekend.

                              That's good to know.  I will be going with an ssd for this system, the only difference is I'll get a 1U rackmout since I already have 2 other rackmount appliances.

                              I look forward to seeing your build.  I wish I had enough room for a rack in my apt.

                              The only thing I would recommend, no matter what system you end up building….. Make sure you use an Intel i350 chipset ethernet card.  The driver,  igb, is very stable and well supported by pfSense. Most of the issues I see with new builds are related to Realtek or Intel desktop (em)  driver issues.

                              You can get the Chinese version of this card for about 50 bucks,but some will argue that these cards have build quality issues.  Its mainly the luck of the draw, it seems

                              pfSense i5-4590
                              940/880 mbit Fiber Internet from FiOS
                              BROCADE ICX6450 48Port L3-Managed Switch w/4x 10GB ports
                              Netgear R8000 AP (DD-WRT)

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • P
                                physwm2501
                                last edited by

                                @Paint:

                                @physwm2501:

                                @mattyd:

                                That 160W power supply is also supreme overkill unless you're running several power hungry spinning disks.

                                My 2758 build runs about 15.8-16.2W under my typical usage (basically idle, since it is overkill).  You likely won't see lower than that.

                                Serve The Home did power benchmarking at different loads, including maxing traffic through all four interfaces.  Their test rig was measured SSD, ram, processor and motherboard:

                                http://www.servethehome.com/intel-atom-c2550-power-consumption-comparison/

                                Round up to 40W, add in whatever your cooling needs, and toss in peak spin up draw for your hard drive if it is a spinning disk.  With my SSD-based build, I went with a 60W Seasonic 12V power supply because I believe it is higher quality than the bricks sold with the PicoPSUs.  I've always had good luck with Seasonic power supplies.

                                http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=376-000S-00001

                                I also built it in a Supermicro mini-ITX case and it was a pretty smooth build.  I have a half written post with some pictures lying around that I should finish up this weekend.

                                That's good to know.  I will be going with an ssd for this system, the only difference is I'll get a 1U rackmout since I already have 2 other rackmount appliances.

                                I look forward to seeing your build.  I wish I had enough room for a rack in my apt.

                                The only thing I would recommend, no matter what system you end up building….. Make sure you use an Intel i350 chipset ethernet card.  The driver,  igb, is very stable and well supported by pfSense. Most of the issues I see with new builds are related to Realtek or Intel desktop (em)  driver issues.

                                You can get the Chinese version of this card for about 50 bucks,but some will argue that these cards have build quality issues.  Its mainly the luck of the draw, it seems

                                I'll be sure to use that.  Probably won't get to a build to later this year but I'll post it up once I'm done.

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

                                  @Paint:

                                  The only thing I would recommend, no matter what system you end up building….. Make sure you use an Intel i350 chipset ethernet card.  The driver,  igb, is very stable and well supported by pfSense. Most of the issues I see with new builds are related to Realtek or Intel desktop (em)  driver issues.

                                  Note that igb driver has severe pppoe issues, and it doesn't seem to be fixed any soon.
                                  For 1G pppoe wan, use an intel nic with em driver, not igb. pppoe on igb will give you max 600M.

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

                                    @robi:

                                    @Paint:

                                    The only thing I would recommend, no matter what system you end up building….. Make sure you use an Intel i350 chipset ethernet card.  The driver,  igb, is very stable and well supported by pfSense. Most of the issues I see with new builds are related to Realtek or Intel desktop (em)  driver issues.

                                    Note that igb driver has severe pppoe issues, and it doesn't seem to be fixed any soon.
                                    For 1G pppoe wan, use an intel nic with em driver, not igb. pppoe on igb will give you max 600M.

                                    Which Intel Chipset is your ethernet card?

                                    I find that the EM driver causes many watchdog timeouts, which causes the device to fail until the machine is rebooted. This is quite common, it seems, from other's experience here and on FreeBSD when interrupts go above 30k per second.

                                    pfSense i5-4590
                                    940/880 mbit Fiber Internet from FiOS
                                    BROCADE ICX6450 48Port L3-Managed Switch w/4x 10GB ports
                                    Netgear R8000 AP (DD-WRT)

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

                                      It's not chipset issue, it's driver issue. On PPPoE interface packets are only received on one NIC driver queue by the igb driver. This has been discussed many times. It will use only one core of the cpu.
                                      https://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-bugs/2015-October/064334.html
                                      Igb drivers are better than em in many aspects, except this. It's worth dropping in an em-based card for the interface dealing with PPPoE (typically WAN).

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

                                        @robi:

                                        It's not chipset issue, it's driver issue. On PPPoE interface packets are only received on one NIC driver queue by the igb driver. This has been discussed many times. It will use only one core of the cpu.
                                        https://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-bugs/2015-October/064334.html

                                        I dont use PPPoE. What I was referring to is the EM driver will fail at high interrupts/load for many retail chipsets until the machine is rebooted. It is related to this error:

                                        https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=110224.0

                                        All of my testing has been done using a 64-bit machine, so i386 is not the issue.

                                        pfSense i5-4590
                                        940/880 mbit Fiber Internet from FiOS
                                        BROCADE ICX6450 48Port L3-Managed Switch w/4x 10GB ports
                                        Netgear R8000 AP (DD-WRT)

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

                                          I was just noting this for the one who started this thread. He/She may be using PPPoE, and should know about this issue.

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

                                            @robi:

                                            I was just noting this for the one who started this thread. He/She may be using PPPoE, and should know about this issue.

                                            Fair enough.  Good information to know!

                                            pfSense i5-4590
                                            940/880 mbit Fiber Internet from FiOS
                                            BROCADE ICX6450 48Port L3-Managed Switch w/4x 10GB ports
                                            Netgear R8000 AP (DD-WRT)

                                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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