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

athurdent

Don't know if this has been posted yet, but there is a real nice Supermicro App that even lets you use you the KVM console:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/supermicro-ipmiview/id952163566
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.smc.smcipmitool

athurdent

@mifronte:

@robi - Is your Speedtest signature reflect the performance of the Supermicro A1SRi-2758f motherboard on a Gigabit broadband?

For those with tree fans installed, just how loud is the unit?

For normal desktop installation in a typical home environment, is one fan sufficient if standard firewall functions?

The M350 was either too loud (even slightly modded it to fit in a 100mm Scythe fan) or would get too hot for my taste (using L.N.A. adapters).
Also using the 4 PIN DC input made the board produce a high pitched sound.
I could not find any 40mm or 100mm PWM fans, so I took a different approach.

Buy a little fridge and a cute PS:
http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=333
http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=458

Change the build in fan to a PWM model:
http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=productview&products_id=82&lng=en&set=2

And tell the BIOS not to panic when the fan spins under 500 RPM:
http://wl.rekursion.ch/pwm-fan-spin-up-on-supermicro-board.html

The CPU is at about 50°C in my approx. 25-27°C "server room" under the roof of an old house and the system is really silent.

@arthurdent

(even slightly modded it to fit in a 100mm Scythe fan)

Do you know this one! Nothing must be drilled or cut! Enermax U.R.VEGAS

athurdent

I used this one: http://www.scytheus.com/products_categories/100mm-fans/
Don't think one can mount a 120x25 fan into the M350 next to the SSD, but I might be wrong there. 120mm would not fit and 25mm neither I guess…

Edit: ah, forget it, you don't put it in the case at all ;) But it does not seem to have PWM?

robi

@mifronte:

@robi - Is your Speedtest signature reflect the performance of the Supermicro A1SRi-2758f motherboard on a Gigabit broadband?

For those with tree fans installed, just how loud is the unit?

For normal desktop installation in a typical home environment, is one fan sufficient if standard firewall functions?

I've got 1G/200M paid for (~22 USD a month including landline phone and 120 digital TV channels), but I've never seen it really go above 700/200 even using the ISP's own CPE unit directly. So this is definitely not a limitation of A1SRi-2758f.

This unit at home is installed in an EPC2 mini-ITX case, and I've installed an 8cm fan inside of it just above the CPU with two cable ties to the holes of the case. Zero noise. It locates about 3-4mm right above the CPU heatsink, and the temperature is about 33-35degrees. The unit is located close to the ceiling in a poorly ventilated closet.
The rackmounted device is in a server room, a bit noisier but that's not an issue there.

robi

@trumee:

@robi @Sir Loin, Are you guys running pfsense on a VM or bare metal? It will be shame to have unused CPU on bare metal.

Bare metal, and NanoBSD due to security reasons. I've got virtualization on a dedicated separate server with Xeon CPU, 32GB of RAM and lots of storage.

trumee

The fans listed on the minibox website are 3 pin molex/non-pwm only. Are there any PWM fans available which would fit on the hdd brackets?

Sir Loin

@trumee:

The fans listed on the minibox website are 3 pin molex/non-pwm only. Are there any PWM fans available which would fit on the hdd brackets?

A quick Bing search found something like this: http://www.frozencpu.com/products/17651/fan-1145/Evercool_40mm_x_15mm_High_Speed_PWM_Fan_EC4015SH12BP.html?tl=g36c365s1814

messerchmidt

i would have added more ram. probably 16gb

the cpu temperature seems right. they run hot

Jailer

@Sir:

@trumee:

The fans listed on the minibox website are 3 pin molex/non-pwm only. Are there any PWM fans available which would fit on the hdd brackets?

A quick Bing search found something like this: http://www.frozencpu.com/products/17651/fan-1145/Evercool_40mm_x_15mm_High_Speed_PWM_Fan_EC4015SH12BP.html?tl=g36c365s1814

Are they still processing orders? Last I heard they were closing up shop.

Sir Loin

Well, try some other shops that carry similar fans :-)

R3Z3N

@mifronte:

IPMI concerns...

I have yet to try WOL when the IPMI is not on a separate network, however I did use IPMI to configure/install the BIOS and pfSense with Supermicro's IPMI java software, quite nice IMO! I have no VGA or console cables

As far as my build, I copied the OP setup except I used the 4 core Rangeley board. I would go with a smaller power brick though or instead use a pico-psu. I was ordering out of fun to learn networking and building, and didn't pay attention to the huge size.

Now if only Squid2 or 3 would stop randomly shutting me out of external access, as I want to push the 4 core to see what it can do. I plan on OpenVPN with PIA, Squid, HVAP, Dansguarding or the newer which is not yet packaged yet, and Snort. Think big, start small, first on with figuring out a basic home NAT and firewall setup, then on with the packages.

athurdent

@Justin0:

Now if only Squid2 or 3 would stop randomly shutting me out of external access, as I want to push the 4 core to see what it can do.

So, do I get you right, Squid crashes? Can you find anything in the System Log regarding those crashes?

antillie

I am not sure why the OP is recomending people spend over $50 on a power supply and associated attachments. This and this will do the job for about $35, no additonal attachments needed.

The rest of the parts are identical to what I listed here. I have been very happy with my little eight core monster. Its totally silent and fast as hell.

jasonlitka

@antillie:

I am not sure why the OP is recomending people spend over $50 on a power supply and associated attachments. This and this will do the job for about $35, no additonal attachments needed.

The rest of the parts are identical to what I listed here. I have been very happy with my little eight core monster. Its totally silent and fast as hell.

The poor reviews are reason enough to not order that AC-DC brick. I genuinely don't understand why people will pay top-dollar for some components and then cheap-out on something that has the potential to fry everything else.

The power-related parts in the original post mimic the ones I used in my M350 build. The brick was chosen because it's a high-quality unit, doesn't experience voltage sags or spikes under load changes, and comes with a Mini-DIN connector which is less likely to just fall out than a standard barrel. It's an oversized unit but is cheaper than buying a slightly smaller brick + PicoPSU and it also eliminates the redundant circuitry from the case (the board already has a DC-DC PSU built-in).

Sir Loin

Well said, Jason.

I had the picoPSU + standard barrel power brick before I switched over to the better power brick and mini-DIN connector. The standard barrel connector got disconnected easily a few times when I moved on the box in my closet, which was quite annoying. The mini-DIN connector makes a much better, more solid connection and it has never disconnected by accident. The picoPSU works, but it duplicates components that are already on the motherboard that you have already paid for. The picoPSU probably impedes air float a little bit. Not all power supplies are created equal. I'd much rather pair a high quality power supply with high quality components and not risk frying it by being penny wise, pound foolish.

trumee

@Sir Loin, Do the standard barrel brick and the brick different you quoted in OP have different connectors? Reason I am asking because the pictures don't show the end connector. It is not very clear whether the power brick for DIN connector and the picopsu are interchangeable.

Sir Loin

You can see the connector on the mini-box.com web site: http://www.mini-box.com/12v-12-5A-AC-DC-Power-Adapter

Standard barrel

mini-DIN 4-pin

You DO NOT need a picoPSU if you go with the mini-DIN power supply. All the information is there in the OP, in the power supply section. as well as in the pictures I posted. If it is still not clear, ask away.

trumee

Thanks for the pics. My question was more regarding the power brick. There is no image of the brick connector at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0081S1YEE

But your third photo of the chassis with a single pin connector made it clear. So, tt looks like the power brick used for picopsu and DIN connections are not interchangeable. Guess, the downside of the DIN brick psu is that if it fails it will need to be sourced from mini-box.com. The picopsu brick will be more readily available.

Sir Loin

Correct, they are not interchangeable.