Netgate 8200 connection questions
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The ix ports can only link at 1G or 10G. The igc (LAN) ports are all 2.5G of course.
Theoretically the m.2 slots could take a Ethernet device since they are wired for PCIe. The mPCIe slot could probably also. I'm not aware anyone has tested that though, I certainly haven't.
How many ports do you need?
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I need about 5x 2.5G ports, hence my quest for the 5th one.
The mPCIe slot seems to be listed as WiFi only - not sure if that's good or bad news in my case.-S
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It just requires the slot to be wired with PCIe to be able to use an Ethernet card. So it should work in any. But you'd have to modify the case etc.
I would use a switch and VLANs to create more interfaces if required.
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I need to be able to feed 2 sets of LAGGs ports to two diffrent switches and one for WAN connections; then I have multiple VLANs on the switches. e.g. my wired and WiFi networks are physically seperated, so they can operate saperately.
So, you are saying that M.2 slots are my best options?
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Well it's hard to recommend adding NICs because you'd need to mod the enclosure to use them.
But there are 8 NICs on the 8200 so if you only need to two LAGGs and one WAN you should be able to do that with 5 NICs. But I assume the issue is that all links need to be 2.5G? None can be 1 or 10G?
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yeah, 2.5G is the limiting factor here.
So, nothing but 1G or 10G is hardware restriction? Not even a Transceiver like this work?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/QSFPTEK-Transceiver-10GBASE-T-SFP-10G-T-S-UF-RJ45-10G/dp/B081YKGBR4?th=1-S
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No, AFAIK there is no way to get the 10G ports to link at 2.5Gor 5G directly. Some sort of external media converter might do it.
HoweverI would consider if all those links actually need to be 2.5G. Perhaps you can use a LAGG of 1G links or a single 10G instead.
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Thanks @stephenw10!
Yeah, something I need to figure out, to be as close as possible to my DIY setup.I have another two Qs:
- Can I use a 2nd M.2 SSD to create RAID?
- Can USB to VGA converter be used to plugin a standard compyter disply?
-S
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Yes it is possible to fit two NVMe drives and install to them as a zfs mirror:
[admin@6100.stevew.lan]/root: zpool list -v zroot NAME SIZE ALLOC FREE CKPOINT EXPANDSZ FRAG CAP DEDUP HEALTH ALTROOT zroot 13G 824M 12.2G - - 5% 6% 1.00x ONLINE - mirror 13G 824M 12.2G - - 5% 6.18% nvd0p3 - - - - - - - nvd1p3 - - - - - - -No there is no VGA output and no drivers for adding an external video card. The local console is serial only, either dircetly via the RJ-45 port or through the on-board USB-serial adapter.
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thanks @stephenw10 !
I think I got all the info I needed. Now have to decide to-buy or not-to-buy :)
