I need help - Custom Build - low consumption processor + motherboard with pci-e

Chitious

Hello :)
(sorry for my english)

I'm new in the pfsence community and i want to build my own firewall/router
Is there any build that can answer all of this demands:
-strong low power consumption processor (not the intel atom c2000 series)
-mini-itx or smaller motherboard with pci-e v3 (x2 if possible)
-2 built in lan ports
-fanless
-pfsence future proof support

thank you for your help and time! :)

Inxsible

@Fisavelon:

Hello :)
(sorry for my english)

I'm new in the pfsence community and i want to build my own firewall/router
Is there any build that can answer all of this demands:
-strong low power consumption processor (not the intel atom c2000 series)
-mini-itx or smaller motherboard with pci-e v3 (x2 if possible)
-2 built in lan ports
-fanless
-pfsence future proof support

thank you for your help and time! :)

Is there a particular reason that you need pci-e v3.0? and the built in LAN ports?

Cause if not, I have 4 threads that you might be interested in – all leading to the same motherboard ;)

low power but not Atom C2000 series -- check
mini-itx or smaller -- check
fanless -- check
pfsense future proof -- check

LAN -- yes but only one and not the one you'd want to use anyway, add-on pci-e card for Intel LAN
pci-e v3 -- no

https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=135315.0

https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=135392.0

https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=135453.0

https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=135465.0

Chitious

yes! will do :)

Inxsible

@Fisavelon:

yes! will do :)

Great. and now we have 5 threads leading to the same motherboard. ;)

Chitious

@Inxsible:

@Fisavelon:

Hello :)
(sorry for my english)

I'm new in the pfsence community and i want to build my own firewall/router
Is there any build that can answer all of this demands:
-strong low power consumption processor (not the intel atom c2000 series)
-mini-itx or smaller motherboard with pci-e v3 (x2 if possible)
-2 built in lan ports
-fanless
-pfsence future proof support

thank you for your help and time! :)

Is there a particular reason that you need pci-e v3.0? and the built in LAN ports?

Cause if not, I have 4 threads that you might be interested in – all leading to the same motherboard ;)

low power but not Atom C2000 series -- check
mini-itx or smaller -- check
fanless -- check
pfsense future proof -- check

LAN -- yes but only one and not the one you'd want to use anyway, add-on pci-e card for Intel LAN
pci-e v3 -- no

https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=135315.0

https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=135392.0

https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=135453.0

https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=135465.0

how do you guys deal with wireless? pfsence router => switch => access point?

Inxsible

@Fisavelon:

how do you guys deal with wireless? pfsence router => switch => access point?

That's what I'd do.

Chitious

god bless you! thank you my friend :)

Inxsible

@Fisavelon:

god bless you! thank you my friend :)

You are very welcome. Let us know how it all turns out for you.

Chitious

@Inxsible:

@Fisavelon:

god bless you! thank you my friend :)

You are very welcome. Let us know how it all turns out for you.

what do you think about the ASRock J3710-ITX Intel Quad-Core?
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157716
it has a better cpu, better power consumption and it has an extra mini pci-e, i can put a laptop wireless adapter dual brand and it will do the work as an access point AND will save some power :)

will you recommend me this one?

Inxsible

@Fisavelon:

@Inxsible:

@Fisavelon:

god bless you! thank you my friend :)

You are very welcome. Let us know how it all turns out for you.

what do you think about the ASRock J3710-ITX Intel Quad-Core?
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157716
it has a better cpu, better power consumption and it has an extra mini pci-e, i can put a laptop wireless adapter dual brand and it will do the work as an access point AND will save some power :)

will you recommend me this one?

In short, maybe.

Here are the issues I see with this board:

It only has a PCI-E x1 slot – which means it will be difficult to put in a x4 NIC card (most NIC cards I have seen are x4). You could probably do it with filing away the card or the slot end or a riser card. If riser card, then add in that cost.
J3710 is clocked at 1.6GHz whereas J3355 is clocked at 2GHz. Higher clock frequency is better for OpenVPN – if you ever plan on doing that sorta thing.

On the other hand – J3710 does have 4 cores/4 thread, so it will be better than J3355 for multi-threaded applications -- provided the application code also makes use of all the threads available. There is also another processor J3455 which is similar and costs less ($70) than the J3710 board ($95).

And if money is no object for your build I can suggest 2 additional boards :

SuperMicro MBD-X11SBA-F-O – dual NICs
SuperMicro MBD-X11SBA-LN4F-O – quad NICs

jahonix

@Fisavelon:

will you recommend me this one?

In short: no.

@Fisavelon:

…put a laptop wireless adapter dual brand and it will do the work as an access point ...

That's the culprit. FreeBSD is not good at wireless.
You are way better off with a dedicated AP placed where it makes sense (radiation wise). The router closet usually is not such a place.