Intel Mini-ITX Atom 8-core Hardware Build Recipe Available Here

mifronte

Got pfSense 2.2.4 installed and running on my Supermicro A1SRi-2758F in the M350 mini-ITX enclosure.

Here is my final configuration:

Supermicro A1SRi-2758F
Samsung EVO 120GB SSD
Kingston KVR16LSE11 8GB (x2)
Mini-box M350 enclosure with 2nd hard drive mounting bracket
150w AC-DC Power Adapter, 12v 12.5A
Evercool EC4015SH12BP 4-Pin PWM Fan, 40x40x15mm (x3)

The firewall is connected to my Motorola SB6141 cable modem with a Comcast 125Mbps/12Mbps broadband. I did have to set the kern.ipc.nmbclusters=512000 to get rid of the Igb3: Could not setup receive structures error.

So far, everything is stable and working better than I anticipated. Coming from dd-wrt, pfSense is much more intuitive and more responsive. When I ran MemTest86 with all 8 cores, the 3 PWM fans spun at 7500rpm to keep the system in the mid 40C. In normal state, the fans spin down to 3300rpm and all is quiet.

Now I will be waiting for my fiber gigabit to become available.

Guest

@mifronte
On what kind of media was you installing pfsense.
mSATA, SSD, HDD, SATA-DOM, SSD-DOM, USB Stick,…

mifronte

@BlueKobold:

@mifronte
On what kind of media was you installing pfsense.
mSATA, SSD, HDD, SATA-DOM, SSD-DOM, USB Stick,…

Oops, I forgot to specify that in my final configuration. I used a Samsung EVO 120 GB SSD connected to the SATA3 port.

Anyone know if it is recommended to do a full install on a USB 3.0 flash drive? I would prefer to have gone this route for fan location reason on the M350 enclosure.

robi

@mifronte:

Anyone know if it is recommended to do a full install on a USB 3.0 flash drive? I would prefer to have gone this route for fan location reason on the M350 enclosure.

You can safely use NanoBSD install from a USB2 flash drive.

Guest

Anyone know if it is recommended to do a full install on a USB 3.0 flash drive?

On an USB Stick I would prefer to install the Memstick NanoBSD version.

But with an SSD you are really able to do a full install as you have enough space for all
as I see it right!

And if you want to go with an internally other drive for the most mainboards from Supermicro
are some SSD-DOM or SATA-DOMs out, that is then more something like an install medium
and not even outside plugged in as an USB Stick.

Supermicro SuperDOM Solutions
SATA-DOM
Supermicro SATA DOM

codyst

Just ordered all my parts! Here is a complete list of every single item I ordered. Your total price might not add up to mine since I had a couple promo codes here and there.

Motherboard/CPU (Supermicro A1SRI-2758F-O) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FM4M7TQ?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=od_aui_detailpages00
SSD (SanDisk SSD 120GB) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820173071
6" 4-Pin Molex to SATA Power Cable http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812200061
RAM (Kingston 8GB ECC Unbuffered SODIMM) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820239702
PowerSupply (150W 12V 12.5A AC-DC Power Adapter) http://www.ebay.com/itm/130478987672
Sleeved ATX 4-Pin P4 Extension Cable http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00E6QK5N6?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=od_aui_detailpages00
Case (Mini-Box M350) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005TX3LA4?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=od_aui_detailpages00
HDD Mounting Bracket for M350 (for 2 extra fans) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007HEN2W0?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=od_aui_detailpages00
Fans (3x Evercool EC4015SH12BP 4-Pin PWM Fans) http://www.directron.com/ec4015sh12bp.html
Fan Screws (3x Sets of Screws) http://www.directron.com/fanscrews.html

Total: $593.69 Shipped

Guest

Total: $593.69 Shipped

Wow, go with it, this would be a really fast pfSense box as I see it right!

Enable the TRIM support in pfSense if not automatically done during the installation
Enable PowerD "high adaptive"

The RAM I would try out as 2 x 4 GB or 2 x 8 GB ECC RAM and not only one module

perhaps if you go with 2 x 8 GB ECC RAM I would try up to tune the mbufs numbers

But all in all this is a very fast machine and you will be happy with it as I see it right!

codyst

@BlueKobold:

Total: $593.69 Shipped

Wow, go with it, this would be a really fast pfSense box as I see it right!

Enable the TRIM support in pfSense if not automatically done during the installation

Enable PowerD "high adaptive"

The RAM I would try out as 2 x 4 GB or 2 x 8 GB ECC RAM and not only one module

perhaps if you go with 2 x 8 GB ECC RAM I would try up to tune the mbufs numbers

But all in all this is a very fast machine and you will be happy with it as I see it right!

I went with 1x 8GB stick of RAM for now so when I upgrade later I won't have to replace 2x 4GB sticks. I can just buy 1 additional 8GB.

Guest

I can just buy 1 additional 8GB.

This can be really better as I see it right, perhaps others won´t consider
but having much RAM inside a machine was never a false.

mifronte

@codyst:

…
4-Pin Molex to SATA Power Cable http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812200061
...

This cable will not work with the motherboard (I made the same mistake) because you need a Female 4-Pin Molex. This cable is a Male 4-Pin Molex.

Here is the correct SATA Power Cable.

codyst

@mifronte:

@codyst:

…
4-Pin Molex to SATA Power Cable http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812200061
...

This cable will not work with the motherboard (I made the same mistake) because you need a Female 4-Pin Molex. This cable is a Male 4-Pin Molex.

Here is the correct SATA Power Cable.

That sucks! Thanks for catching that for me.

Sir Loin

I did include a link to the correct cable in the OP. Good luck.

codyst

@Sir:

I did include a link to the correct cable in the OP. Good luck.

Yeah, I just didn't realize I ordered a male when I ordered it on newegg. Oh well, it was only a couple bucks!

dopey

i just purchased this build (from amazon and mini-box) with a few minor tweaks (different 4 pin extension cable).

Thanks for doing all the research and providing it.

Unfortunately the power brick is out of stock at mini-box for a couple of weeks so I'll have to wait a bit before being able to fully test everything, but still, this will be a fun nice replacement for my current dd-wrt unit.

trumee

@codyst:

Fans (3x Evercool EC4015SH12BP 4-Pin PWM Fans) http://www.directron.com/ec4015sh12bp.html
Fan Screws (3x Sets of Screws) http://www.directron.com/fanscrews.html

Did these screws fit the fan?

codyst

@dopey:

i just purchased this build (from amazon and mini-box) with a few minor tweaks (different 4 pin extension cable).

Thanks for doing all the research and providing it.

Unfortunately the power brick is out of stock at mini-box for a couple of weeks so I'll have to wait a bit before being able to fully test everything, but still, this will be a fun nice replacement for my current dd-wrt unit.

I ordered my power brick off ebay and got it in 2 days. http://www.ebay.com/itm/130478987672

@trumee:

@codyst:

Fans (3x Evercool EC4015SH12BP 4-Pin PWM Fans) http://www.directron.com/ec4015sh12bp.html
Fan Screws (3x Sets of Screws) http://www.directron.com/fanscrews.html

Did these screws fit the fan?

They did! Using a screwdriver was a pain in the ass because it was so tight so I went out to the garage and got the power drill.

pfcode

@codyst:

I ordered my power brick off ebay and got it in 2 days. http://www.ebay.com/itm/130478987672

I would avoid any items sold from United States, their Shipping charges and Import charges are totally bullshit. BTW, Why 150W 12V/12.5A, Is 60W 12V/5A not good and enough?

dopey

@codyst:

I ordered my power brick off ebay and got it in 2 days. http://www.ebay.com/itm/130478987672

Thanks. I'll order one of those and get my mini-box order cancelled.

@pfcode:

I would avoid any items sold from United States, their Shipping charges and Import charges are totally bullshit. BTW, Why 150W 12V/12.5A, Is 60W 12V/5A not good and enough?

Well, I live in the US :) So that makes it easier.
The main reason why I'm going with that one is the 4-pin mini-din. The straight 4-pin power connector is a bit simpler than a picopsu. I haven't found another unit that has the 4-pin.

codyst

@dopey:

@codyst:

I ordered my power brick off ebay and got it in 2 days. http://www.ebay.com/itm/130478987672

Thanks. I'll order one of those and get my mini-box order cancelled.

No problem! I am just waiting on my RAM to be delivered tomorrow, I went ahead and ordered another 8GB from Amazon for a total of 16GB. The rest of the system is hooked up and boots up fine to the POST screen where it obviously errors out due to no RAM. The IPMI also works and is super cool, I had no idea that existed until researching a pfsense system to build.

I am looking forward to tomorrow!

R3Z3N

So, I found a work around to my WAN not aquiring DHCP, which it did at least for 3 days. IGB0 no longer will accept a DHCP address from my cable modem, however it does work fine getting an address from a generic dd-wrt router serving DHCP. I have to use any of the other Ethernet ports to connect the Supermico board to the cable modem. Very very wierd. Currently the more I use pfsense, the more broken it seems, for example even with a clean install of squid3, I only get I-CAP errors. NTP service when setup seems to drop randomly, and the webgui many times is just too slow, or allowing no access with an internal error 500 or 503. Fresh pfsense installs only work for short periods.