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    Hardware recommendations

    Problems Installing or Upgrading pfSense Software
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    • P
      pmadem
      last edited by

      Hi

      I have a Intel 10th gen i7 NUC with proxmox up and running . I wanted to know which of the following two are recommended for a newbie setting up pfsense for first time

      1. Create a VM with pfsense
      2. Running pfsense on dedicated hardware like SG-1100/2100/3100

      Appreciate any feedback . Thanks !

      DaddyGoD A 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • DaddyGoD
        DaddyGo @pmadem
        last edited by

        @pmadem said in Hardware recommendations:

        I wanted to know which of the following two are recommended for a newbie

        Hi,

        I don't know about Intel NUC with at least dual NICs...?
        (f.e. in case WAN / LAN default interfaces)
        It has a wired port and - a WiFi option in it, correct me if i know wrong.

        I wouldn't use wireless stuff in more serious NGFW installations for key interfaces, only for WLAN maximum.

        The answer is clear, anyway:

        Running pfsense on dedicated hardware like SG-1100/2100/3100 😉

        Cats bury it so they can't see it!
        (You know what I mean if you have a cat)

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        • N
          NOCling
          last edited by

          First try and first play, use a VM and go for a Setup and try some Rules, Packages, etc.

          For a real Setup and produtic using, ip prefered the hardware appliance.

          Personally, I'm a fan of appliances and I use an SG-3100 and an SG-1100 remote on my parents' house to use a nice S2S IPSec tunnel for NAS backups.

          Netgate 6100 & Netgate 2100

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • A
            akuma1x @pmadem
            last edited by

            @pmadem You can try it, but you're going to have to run VLAN's if there's only 1 network port on that NUC. Do you have a smart/managed switch that can also run VLAN's?

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z59_MWWPL-Q

            Jeff

            N 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • N
              netblues @akuma1x
              last edited by

              @akuma1x Depends on your speed needs.
              nucs use realtek nic and is fine for speeds up to 300mbi.
              Anything above that is problematic

              DaddyGoD 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • P
                pmadem
                last edited by

                Thanks All . I have Google wifi with mesh network . I believe if I had to use the dedicated hardware such as SG 1100/SG 2100 I will have to disable the mesh and configure the google wifi as bridge ,right ? Are there any options wher I can use the mesh network and also a dedicatted hardware such as SG 1100 to run pfsense ?

                @NOCling : Great idea to use for secure NAS backups

                @akuma1x : No ,I do not have a smart/managed switch that can run VLANS

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                • A
                  akuma1x @pmadem
                  last edited by

                  @pmadem How many physical network ports does your NUC have? If only 1, I'm almost positive that you still have to run a smart/managed switch to make this work, VM virtualized or not.

                  Jeff

                  P 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • DaddyGoD
                    DaddyGo @netblues
                    last edited by

                    @netblues said in Hardware recommendations:

                    nucs use realtek nic and is fine for speeds up to 300mbi.

                    I would be surprised, if it were a Realtek part in a factory Intel product. 😉

                    Cats bury it so they can't see it!
                    (You know what I mean if you have a cat)

                    N 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • N
                      netblues @DaddyGo
                      last edited by

                      @DaddyGo Original nuc's by intel utilize realtec single port gigabit ethernet adapters

                      Confirmed in many occasions

                      DaddyGoD 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • DaddyGoD
                        DaddyGo @netblues
                        last edited by

                        @netblues said in Hardware recommendations:

                        Original nuc's by intel utilize realtec single port gigabit ethernet adapters
                        Confirmed in many occasions

                        ????????

                        You're just kidding me, aren't you?
                        That would be a terrible thing for Intel, I think you could see some fake Chinese NUC.
                        Fortunately, I have already worked and are still using NUCs in our installations for thin clients.

                        I can help you learn more about what is in NUC as PHY:

                        Intel i219-V and wireless AC-8265
                        (Believe me in all Intel NUCs, that's right -
                        possibly - i211)

                        6b19c47a-e30a-456e-a42f-ee5ed0cc3cb4-image.png

                        btw:
                        Realtek, spelled correctly, not with "c"
                        https://www.realtek.com/en/

                        Cats bury it so they can't see it!
                        (You know what I mean if you have a cat)

                        N 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • N
                          netblues @DaddyGo
                          last edited by

                          @DaddyGo Maybe on the bigger models...
                          We are talking about original sealed boxes, bought through official distributors.
                          Here you go

                          lspci
                          00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Atom/Celeron/Pentium Processor x5-E8000/J3xxx/N3xxx Series SoC Transaction Register (rev 35)
                          00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Atom/Celeron/Pentium Processor x5-E8000/J3xxx/N3xxx Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 35)
                          00:10.0 SD Host controller: Intel Corporation Atom/Celeron/Pentium Processor x5-E8000/J3xxx/N3xxx Series MMC Controller (rev 35)
                          00:13.0 SATA controller: Intel Corporation Atom/Celeron/Pentium Processor x5-E8000/J3xxx/N3xxx Series SATA Controller (rev 35)
                          00:14.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation Atom/Celeron/Pentium Processor x5-E8000/J3xxx/N3xxx Series USB xHCI Controller (rev 35)
                          00:1a.0 Encryption controller: Intel Corporation Atom/Celeron/Pentium Processor x5-E8000/J3xxx/N3xxx Series Trusted Execution Engine (rev 35)
                          00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation Atom/Celeron/Pentium Processor x5-E8000/J3xxx/N3xxx Series High Definition Audio Controller (rev 35)
                          00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Atom/Celeron/Pentium Processor x5-E8000/J3xxx/N3xxx Series PCI Express Port #1 (rev 35)
                          00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Atom/Celeron/Pentium Processor x5-E8000/J3xxx/N3xxx Series PCI Express Port #2 (rev 35)
                          00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Atom/Celeron/Pentium Processor x5-E8000/J3xxx/N3xxx Series PCI Express Port #4 (rev 35)
                          00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation Atom/Celeron/Pentium Processor x5-E8000/J3xxx/N3xxx Series PCU (rev 35)
                          00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation Atom/Celeron/Pentium Processor x5-E8000/J3xxx/N3xxx SMBus Controller (rev 35)
                          01:00.0 Unassigned class [ff00]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTS522A PCI Express Card Reader (rev 01)
                          02:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Wireless 3160 (rev 83)
                          03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 15)

                          DaddyGoD 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • DaddyGoD
                            DaddyGo @netblues
                            last edited by DaddyGo

                            @netblues said in Hardware recommendations:

                            Here you go

                            This HW, now you are presenting just a toy box, sorry...
                            (and a fairly old edition)

                            You are not reading the OP's message properly

                            @pmadem "I have a Intel 10th gen i7 NUC with proxmox up and running ."

                            well it's no longer a "toy" box, ergo Intel PHY should be in it

                            ++++edit:
                            The quality of Realtek used to be acceptable, but today they do terrible things, pls. forget it...😉

                            Cats bury it so they can't see it!
                            (You know what I mean if you have a cat)

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                            • N
                              netblues
                              last edited by

                              What I said is that some original nuc's come with realtek lan adapters. This is a fact.
                              One should check to see what's inside.
                              Since Intel does it, it needs to be verified.
                              As for realtek lan and freebsd issues, its a well known issue.

                              DaddyGoD 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • DaddyGoD
                                DaddyGo @netblues
                                last edited by DaddyGo

                                @netblues

                                Fact...
                                have a nice weekend

                                +++edit:
                                Correctly, Realtek PHY, because the acronym "LAN" can be misleading, as it provides poor performance on any interface

                                f.e.: WAN, LAN, OPT1, OPT2, etc. - or whatever you want WLAN, DMZ, IoT..........

                                And it's not just in FreeBSD, pls. avoid Realtek chip-based NICs everywhere 😉

                                Cats bury it so they can't see it!
                                (You know what I mean if you have a cat)

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • T
                                  tman222
                                  last edited by

                                  I've got one of these sitting in a spare parts bin somewhere - was a great little box (until its purpose was replaced by a VM), but the Realtek NIC was a bit of a sore spot (look under I/O Specifications):

                                  https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/boards-kits/nuc/kits/nuc7pjyh.html

                                  DaddyGoD 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • DaddyGoD
                                    DaddyGo @tman222
                                    last edited by

                                    @tman222 said in Hardware recommendations:

                                    was a great little box

                                    Yes I like NUCs, but we're talking about Intel Core i .... platform (10Gen)

                                    Not about the cheap version, which is Intel® Pentium® Silver Processor Series and moreover Q4'17

                                    but I think the our opinion about Realtek - doesn't change from that yet 😉

                                    BTW:
                                    the OP clearly described what kind of NUC it had - - Realtek PHY is definitely not there

                                    Cats bury it so they can't see it!
                                    (You know what I mean if you have a cat)

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                                    • P
                                      pmadem @akuma1x
                                      last edited by

                                      @akuma1x Yes , I only have one LAN port on the NUC

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

                                        Here's a link to check the specifications for the NUC that I have :

                                        https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/188811/intel-nuc-10-performance-kit-nuc10i7fnh.html

                                        Integrated LAN Intel® Ethernet Connection I219-V

                                        A 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • A
                                          akuma1x @pmadem
                                          last edited by

                                          @pmadem The Intel i219-V is reported to work just fine with pfsense, and I'm assuming FreeBSD. But, since it's got only 1 single network port, you're still going to need a smart/managed switch to make this project work.

                                          Jeff

                                          P 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • P
                                            pmadem @akuma1x
                                            last edited by

                                            @akuma1x Thanks Jeff ! I m trying to find a good managed switch . Do you have any recommendations ?

                                            A DaddyGoD 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
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