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

dopey

@BlueKobold:

I my eyes nothing to compare against, sorry. Yours is the C2558 and this comes from the entry
point with no active fans for the cpu, but the C2758 board does. And then on top of this, if someone
runs pfSense native on this boards it will be even cooler then running CentOS and pfSense in a VM on this.

The supermicro c2758 does not come with an active cpu cooling fan. It's a fanless board.

robi

@dopey:

@BlueKobold:

I my eyes nothing to compare against, sorry. Yours is the C2558 and this comes from the entry
point with no active fans for the cpu, but the C2758 board does. And then on top of this, if someone
runs pfSense native on this boards it will be even cooler then running CentOS and pfSense in a VM on this.

The supermicro c2758 does not come with an active cpu cooling fan. It's a fanless board.

Yes, indeed.

redpine

Found these 4 pin 40x40x10 fans. But they didn't come with mounting screws. Anyone know which mounting screws would fit these?

Thanks

redpine

@BlueKobold:

Seems a little high for a passive cooled CPU.

Thats pointed to the VM I think. With a native install it would be like the others here
told around and much less hot.

VM wasn't installed yet. That was just boot up with no OS, 50f, which seems high for doing nothing.

dopey

I just got around to ordering the parts for a third NAS (using an Atom D2550 - i don't need performance, just need it to be cheap and work fairly well) and it occurred to me that the supermicro also has an internal usb port.

I notice most people doing this build, seem to be using an SSD, and it never occurred to me to just use a flash key and pfsense embedded. Is there a reason why most people on here have been going hte SSD router and not the usb flash route + embedded route?

@redpine:

Found these 4 pin 40x40x10 fans. But they didn't come with mounting screws. Anyone know which mounting screws would fit these?

Thanks

Standard 10mm long fan screws should work. They're the "fat" looking screws:
Something like this should work:
http://www.amazon.com/Black-Computer-Case-Screws-Pack/dp/B00785I5ZM

pfcode

Question about installing the fan, Should I install and let it push air in or pull the heat air out? There is a arrow (out/in) indicator on the fan made me confused.

dopey

I'm sure someone with a ME degree and a working knowldge of thermal and fluid dynamics could probably tell us exactly the best way to arrange vans, but my rule of thumb has always been, something to pull in cool air, and something to push out warm air.

The M350 has alot of ventillation, so that' sprobalby not critical but what I ended up doing was putting two fans on the fan bracket blowing down at the cpu/ram/motherboard and one fan on the front blowing outwards.

My case is mounted on the wall so that if you're looking directly at it, the backplate is on your left and the front face is facing to the right.

This allows the top fans to pull in cooler air from the room, and the font fan to vent out.

It probably would have been better to mount it so that the front face was facing upwards, but I didn't want to worry about weight on the power cord unplugging it over time since that would be on the bottom.

I probably overthought it :)

robi

@dopey:

I notice most people doing this build, seem to be using an SSD, and it never occurred to me to just use a flash key and pfsense embedded. Is there a reason why most people on here have been going hte SSD router and not the usb flash route + embedded route?

I'm using two of the c2758 boards with CF-to-SATA adapters running from 4GB CF cards the NanoBSD version.
Much better than the SSD, imho.

pfcode

@robi:

Much better than the SSD, imho.

in terms of ?

dopey

@robi:

I'm using two of the c2758 boards with CF-to-SATA adapters running from 4GB CF cards the NanoBSD version.
Much better than the SSD, imho.

Why CF to sata? why not just get a decent USB key and plug it directly into the internal USB port.

redpine

@dopey:

The M350 has alot of ventillation, so that' sprobalby not critical but what I ended up doing was putting two fans on the fan bracket blowing down at the cpu/ram/motherboard and one fan on the front blowing outwards.

It's an open air case, so it's best to have all fans blowing inward. Closed air boxes have a design for how air moves, so usually you blow air from one side and suck it out the other side. Open air have no path for moving air since air can come and go anywhere. Best to have them all blowing inward. Outward facing fans will suck air from the side and not move much from inside.

Why CF to sata? why not just get a decent USB key and plug it directly into the internal USB port.

There are so many options for storage devices out at these days that everybody could be lucky to go
with his favorite one.

SD card, CF card, CFast card
SATA-DOM
SSD-DOM
mSATA
M.2 SSD
SSD/HDD
USB 3.0 pen drive

several adapters types
CF & Cfast card adapters
CF card closed SSD enclosure
2,5" SSD CF card dummy adapter
SD Card to CF card RAID adapters
Addonics CFast to SATA Adapter Bracket - To Suit PCI Slot

robi

@pfcode:

@robi:

Much better than the SSD, imho.

in terms of ?

In terms of all what NanoBSD gives you compared to the full install. Upgrades done much more securely and with less downtime.

robi

@dopey:

@robi:

I'm using two of the c2758 boards with CF-to-SATA adapters running from 4GB CF cards the NanoBSD version.
Much better than the SSD, imho.

Why CF to sata? why not just get a decent USB key and plug it directly into the internal USB port.

Define "decent" ;)

CF technology is used by far more often in professional environments, it proved during the years to be a reliable choice in many industrial areas.
USB sticks are more for home use. I don't really trust them. At least, I couldn't find any reference of any USB stick to be "industrial grade" used as bootable device (booting USB stick is often a "hack", rather than an officially supported mechanism, it's heavily dependent on motherboard BIOS implementation, while booding from PATA/SATA is a standard)

Also, I installed a special CF-to-SATA adapter which has an opening on the case, thus allows me to replace the CF card if needed, without having to remove the device from the rack and open it.

But, nevertheless, imaging a 4GB USB stick with the NanoBSD image, and booting from it, works with this motherboard (I tested it successfully with a Verbatim USB stick. Installing packages was slower on the same machine than when using with CF-to-SATA and a CF card).

dopey

Good point. I'm having a hard time trying to find an enterprise ready USB stick, or even a USB stick that documents it's load levelling algorithm and lifespan.

I think I'll stick with the grossly overkill 120gb ssd :)

pfcode

I'm having a hard time to find the fan control/speed settings in BIOS for my PWM fan. BTW, Does anybody know where to order a 20pin male to 24pin male power supply cable (at least 1ft long)?

redpine

Standard 10mm long fan screws should work. They're the "fat" looking screws:
Something like this should work:
http://www.amazon.com/Black-Computer-Case-Screws-Pack/dp/B00785I5ZM

These were slightly too large for the fans I bought. Ended up going to home depot and buying half inch #6 screws. Works real good. These fans are real quite.

trumee

@redpine:

Standard 10mm long fan screws should work. They're the "fat" looking screws:
Something like this should work:
http://www.amazon.com/Black-Computer-Case-Screws-Pack/dp/B00785I5ZM

These were slightly too large for the fans I bought. Ended up going to home depot and buying half inch #6 screws. Works real good. These fans are real quite.

What fans are you using?

redpine

What fans are you using?

Found them on ebay. 40x40x10 4pin fans. Everflow is the brand. Shipped from Hong Kong. Beat my SSD from California.

dopey

In case anyone is curious:
CPU Temp Normal 25 degrees C
System Temp Normal 31 degrees C
Peripheral Temp Normal 31 degrees C
DIMMA1 Temp Normal 30 degrees C

Ambient temp is 22-24C

This is with two fans on the top blowing in
and a fan on the front blowing out.
All three are 40mmx10mm top motor fans purchased from mini-box.com

I should note, it's pretty noisy. But my furnace is less than 10' away in the same room :) So yeah, the noise is nothing.

@redpine:

It's an open air case, so it's best to have all fans blowing inward. Closed air boxes have a design for how air moves, so usually you blow air from one side and suck it out the other side. Open air have no path for moving air since air can come and go anywhere. Best to have them all blowing inward. Outward facing fans will suck air from the side and not move much from inside.

That's a good point, but on the other hand, the case is so small that you can feel air flow from all of the perforated vents in just about any configuration, so unless you're running a CPU at the edge of it's thermal tolerance, it's probably not going to make a difference :)

I mean if you look above, the CPU temp is pretty close to ambient air temp.