PFsense on Supermicro 5018A-FTN4

afada

Hello All,

I'm looking to build my pfsense using this Supermicro 5018A-FTN4 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00G3ED7D4/ref=ox_sc_act_title_7?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A29P93PKVXFSE3)

Did anyone try it is it any good or shall I stick with Watchguard Firebox X1250 or X700 ??

Just to give you more info, if for my SOHO, I have 4 24Mbps ADSL (soon to be 80Mbps VDSL) with load balancing and firewall no VPN or any complicated setup, its very simple.

Please advise ?

charliem

I think that Rangeley board is too new for pfSense 2.1. Recommendations seem to be 1) wait for 2.2, 2) Install esxi and run pfSense 2.1 in a VM, or 3) use a different board

jasonlitka

I believe the NICs will work under the 2.1.1-PRERELEASE. QuickAssist will not function though, so for now, the Avoton-based 2750 will be significantly faster since it has Turbo Boost.

stephenw10

If you do opt for a Firebox be sure to get an X-e model, like the X1250e. 4x80Mbps will be too much for the X-Core box which only has 10/100 NICs anyway so you'd struggle to make use of it.

Steve

afada

Thanks all for the help

So how about this one

http://www.supermicro.com/products/system/1U/5015/SYS-5015A-EHF-D525.cfm

stephenw10

Yes that box should be fine. It will firewall/NAT ~500Mbps so your 320Mbps (4x80) should be well within its ability.
You'll need at least 5 NICs in your box so you'll have to add a quad port card to it which will increase the price. Your probably getting close to the price of an FW-7541 that would be pre-installed and ready to go.

Steve

Just to respond… yes, the Rangeley board works fine, given pfSense 2.1.1 or higher.

nreaction

RE: 2.1.5
I am using Supermicro 5018A-FTN4 I had to update settings in bios.
Disable all ACPI funtions
and drop available CPU's to 4

Hopefully 2.2 production will be out soon so we can utilize all the cores

We put pfSense 2.1.5 on this system (with some custom tuning), and don't disable ACPI and we leave all the cores enabled.

jasonlitka

@gonzopancho:

We put pfSense 2.1.5 on this system (with some custom tuning), and don't disable ACPI and we leave all the cores enabled.

Yeah, I didn't have those issues with mine either.

q54e3w

@gonzopancho:

We put pfSense 2.1.5 on this system (with some custom tuning), and don't disable ACPI and we leave all the cores enabled.

Could you share your custom tuning - Id be interested to see what you do to these great little systems.
thx

You get the whole package when you purchase at store.pfsense.com or store.negate.com

jasonlitka

@gonzopancho:

You get the whole package when you purchase at store.pfsense.com or store.negate.com

Plans for rolling them out for Gold members? Many of us owned these (or similar) boxes before you started selling them.

Technyne

@Jason:

@gonzopancho:

You get the whole package when you purchase at store.pfsense.com or store.negate.com

Plans for rolling them out for Gold members? Many of us owned these (or similar) boxes before you started selling them.

+1!

I've considered putting the PSRs out for Gold members, but haven't reached a decision on same.

However, given that I pushed the drivers into pfSense 2.1.1 (April 2014) specifically for y'all, you really weren't running pfSense on them before we were selling them (early, early 2014).

pfSense will auto-tune these things soon enough.

jasonlitka

@gonzopancho:

I've considered putting the PSRs out for Gold members, but haven't reached a decision on same.

However, given that I pushed the drivers into pfSense 2.1.1 (April 2014) specifically for y'all, you really weren't running pfSense on them before we were selling them (early, early 2014).

pfSense will auto-tune these things soon enough.

vSphere on bare metal, pfSense in a VM.

cfipilot

@gonzopancho:

I've considered putting the PSRs out for Gold members, but haven't reached a decision on same.

However, given that I pushed the drivers into pfSense 2.1.1 (April 2014) specifically for y'all, you really weren't running pfSense on them before we were selling them (early, early 2014).

pfSense will auto-tune these things soon enough.

Any update on releasing the custom settings?

messerchmidt

not a fan of the laptop type 204pin ram slots.

everything else is fine, but i would want a different atom board in there

jasonlitka

@messerchmidt:

not a fan of the laptop type 204pin ram slots.

everything else is fine, but i would want a different atom board in there

I don't know why. The A1SRi-2758F is basically the best Rangeley board you can buy. IPMI, 4 Intel Gbe NICs, 4 RAM slots (with ECC support), and it can be powered entirely by 12V DC. The only reason to go with a different Rangeley board is either, 1. you can't afford it, or 2. you don't need the power of 8 cores.

manhattanboy

@Jason:

I don't know why. The A1SRi-2758F is basically the best Rangeley board you can buy.

Agree with ^^

Any problems on 2.2-RC for this board?
Thinking of updating today.