pfSense & Xeon D-2100

[vokys]

Curious if someone has seen whether the Xeon D-2100 are supported by pfSense yet? SFP+ ports included?

Looking at 2 of these for a linking 2 locations, site-to-site:
Supermicro | Products | SuperServers | 1U | 5019D-FN8TP

Sure the TDP is higher than the D-1500 series (I'm not overly concerned with power usage), but from all indications the performance difference is significant. It may even be a little overkill, but considering I can get 2 of them (with the required RAM & SSD) for quite a bit less than 2 of Netgate's own XG-1537 (even though I'd prefer to support them), it would only make sense to get the newer equipment, if it works - hence this post!

I'll be running a substantial amount of IPsec traffic, the Supermicro unit has higher clock speeds than similar units, Turbo's higher, and includes QAT (if Netgate ever get around to supporting that, I'm hopeful at least).
As we continue to grow, our needs will also continue to grow, so I'm trying to also plan ahead.

Obvious downside would be the fact that Netgate Support is only available at a higher cost, but I feel as though I have a relatively good grasp of what I need pfSense to do, so (knock on wood), I'm unlikely to need it (until I do, and then I'll just pay for it).

Thank you very much, this site and forum has been a wealth of information for me over the years!

edit - TNSR is a possibility, but I'm not prepared to jump into something new at this point.

[q54e3w]

5019D-FN8TP / X11SDV-8C-TP8F working fine for me here (SFP and Cat5 10gig / 1 gig connections)

[vokys]

@q54e3w

Fantastic! thank you for the response and info!

Curious if you've tested VPN throughput (IPsec primarily)?

Thanks again.

[JeGr]

What's your linespeed @vokys ? We already get near 500Mbps with a C3558 Atom so a Xeon-D of that generation should exceed 1Gbps without problems?

[vokys]

@JeGr
1Gbps at both sites.

500Mbps on the C3558 is relativley higher than I've seen reported elsewhere.

[TheSmoker]

@q54e3w said in pfSense & Xeon D-2100:

5019D-FN8TP / X11SDV-8C-TP8F working fine for me here (SFP and Cat5 10gig / 1 gig connections)

Have you managed to get any kind of LTE card working on that system?

Thanks!

[q54e3w]

I had planned to, but didn't get round to trying for a couple of reasons.
My LTE modem is installed in a cradlepoint modem mounted in a weatherproof box, powered by PoE and situated less than 1ft from the external antenna with a short coax run reducing signal losses which is important given my marginal backup connection.
FreeBSD drivers aren't exactly cutting edge so given the previous solution was in place and working, I didn't bother.

[TheSmoker]

@q54e3w Thanks for the quick answer. Let me know if you will try to make that work, as I am trying, but it seems that the LTE card that I am using (Huawei ME909s-120) looks like is not able to see the SIM card ... and I am at an impasse ...

[q54e3w]

@TheSmoker did you check which port that onboard sim connector is wired too? I remember there were two options a mini-pcie and m2. Just verify. You might need to use a carrier card to connect the SIM. I’m going from 2 year plus memory so could be rusty.
I’m unlikely to try myself as both my boards are in production use and my existing system is robust enough to not be a concern now.

[TheSmoker]

@q54e3w That's the thing, I am dancing around that issue. In manual I have found only one reference: "JSIM1 Nano SIM Slot for M.2 B-Key WAN card support"
The M.2 B-Key is JMD2: "JMD2 PCI-E 3.0 x2/USB 3.0, S-SATA4 Connector (B-Key 3042)"
I've tried with a ME906S-158 (looks like pulled from a HP laptop, as this type of module does not come vanilla either HP or Lenovo it seems) and it looks like it's not working properly and right now I do not know who to blame:

[2.4.5-RELEASE][admin@gw.tgmhome.local]/root: usbconfig
ugen0.1: <0x8086 XHCI root HUB> at usbus0, cfg=0 md=HOST spd=SUPER (5.0Gbps) pwr=SAVE (0mA)
ugen0.2: <vendor 0x0557 product 0x7000> at usbus0, cfg=0 md=HOST spd=HIGH (480Mbps) pwr=SAVE (100mA)
ugen0.3: <vendor 0x0557 product 0x2419> at usbus0, cfg=0 md=HOST spd=LOW (1.5Mbps) pwr=ON (160mA)
ugen0.4: <vendor 0x05e3 USB2.0 Hub> at usbus0, cfg=0 md=HOST spd=HIGH (480Mbps) pwr=SAVE (100mA)
ugen0.5: <HP Inc. HP lt4132 LTEHSPA+ 4G Module> at usbus0, cfg=0 md=HOST spd=FULL (12Mbps) pwr=ON (2mA)
ugen0.6: <vendor 0x05e3 USB2.0 Hub> at usbus0, cfg=0 md=HOST spd=HIGH (480Mbps) pwr=SAVE (100mA)
ugen0.7: <SanDisk Ultra USB 3.0> at usbus0, cfg=0 md=HOST spd=SUPER (5.0Gbps) pwr=ON (224mA)

Also no cuaUX.X devices are being created.

If I try with a ME909s-120, the corresponding serial devices are being created but i get error regarding SIM detection.

I will try some more, but who know, maybe someone who succeeded will see the post and advise.

Cheers!

[TheSmoker]

@TheSmoker said in pfSense & Xeon D-2100:

@q54e3w said in pfSense & Xeon D-2100:

5019D-FN8TP / X11SDV-8C-TP8F working fine for me here (SFP and Cat5 10gig / 1 gig connections)

Have you managed to get any kind of LTE card working on that system?

Thanks!

I forgot to ask: what type of cooling are you using to get those temperatures?

[q54e3w]

@TheSmoker Just standard fans with a shroud to ensure air is optimally dragged through the heatsink etc. I dont have a picture of the shroud but its listed on super micros site.