SuperMicro FttH Router - 2558/2758
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Hi,
I recently moved to an area where FttH is available and being the geek I am I immediately made use of this offering. I currently am running the FritzBox they provided, which isn't bad but I would like more options, so I decided I would like to run a pfsense machine as firewall/router. It would be routing network traffic for about 10 clients I think including one server running a bunch of torrents.
I've researched this a bit, reading this forum, some subreddit's and some googling (duckduckgo-ing doesn't sound like a verb yet). I found the Supermicro A1SRi-2758F and the Supermicro A1SRi-2558F, which both seem to fullfill my requirements. Sufficiently energy efficient, not too costly and not too big. However, I have a hard time making a choice between the two and would like to use your expertise.
The A1SRi-2558F and A1SRi-2758F seem to be pretty similar. Both have 4 gigabit Intel NICs, supporting QuickAssist. Both have the same SATA and USB ports. The only difference is the CPU, the 2758 having and octo-core and the 2558 having a quad core, both clocked at 2.4Ghz. The 2758 seems to be a lot more popular than the 2558, but the 2558 is 25%, or 100EUR, less expensive. What would you recommend?
The shopping list would be:
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Kingston ValueRAM - DDR3L - 8 GB - SO DIMM 204-pin (ECC)
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Don't forget you can run both of them from a single 12V power supply, but when looking at that chassis that might just be what you plan to do.
I would buy the 2558, unless you have special demands that need more CPU power. The 2758 might come with a CPU fan standard, which the 2558 does not have.
I have a Sun Fire v60x (actually an intel server in disguise), with a socket 604 Xeon 2,8 GHz (gallatin) from waaaay back, and that thing serves 20 to 30 clients, and it's never doing much.If you insist on spending more money, buy a couple of these (and send me one!): X10SDV-8C-TLN4F
edit: Your memory choice seems excellent, but be sure to get the 1600 MHz version.
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What would you recommend?
It must serve your needs.
buy a couple of these (and send me one!): X10SDV-8C-TLN4F
Me to please!
Kingston ValueRAM - DDR3L - 8 GB - SO DIMM 204-pin (ECC)
Better to go with 2 x 4 GB or 2 x 8 GB then 1 x 8 GB
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I would buy the 2558, unless you have special demands that need more CPU power.
That was my idea. Stuff like Squid, Snort or OpenVPN don't need that much CPU Power?
edit: Your memory choice seems excellent, but be sure to get the 1600 MHz version.
I am, and thanks 8)
@BlueKobold:
What would you recommend?
It must serve your needs.
I was asking here because I am not sure which board would serve my needs as I am unsure how much power pfsense with some plugins needs.
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but the 2558 is 25%, or 100 EUR, less expensive. What would you recommend?
Perhaps you will be waiting and sving money and would go with the 8 core variant C2758.
tuff like Squid, Snort or OpenVPN don't need that much CPU Power?
FTTH, 10 clients & one server, Snort, Squid and OpenVPN is not the real point, but more
then the entire throughput you will receive! In my eyes I would go with the C2758 and then
with 2 x 4 GB ECC RAM and a SSD. If the C2558 is sufficient enough the C2758 is it also
but for al longer time and with more throughput as I see it right. -
@BlueKobold:
Better to go with 2 x 4 GB or 2 x 8 GB then 1 x 8 GB
I don't think you need the dual channel memory bandwidth much. I bought 1 x 8 GB, and now a second 8 GB so dimm because it was cheap. I used to go for 2x 4GB myself in these situations, but in the long run you're stuck with 4 GB dimms.
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I chose the C2758. I just wanted to keep the router at or around $500US total,, so I decided let's go 2758 for longevity. Will I ever use that amount of power? Maybe not or Maybe :).
The 2558 is likely enough though. I'm not running alot on the 2758 yet. I'm using it as a straight up NAT router/firewall and openvpn host for vpn'ing into my network, but I'm able to get ~930Mbit/s LAN<->WAN throughput at 1500MTU. Theoretical maximum is around ~940Mbit/s so that's close enough/
Also, this is my first mini-itx atom build, I intend to build an avoton NAS when I can justify the budget for it, so I wanted to see what the upper end of the rangeley cpus can do. I've been pleasantly surprised.
@BlueKobold:
Better to go with 2 x 4 GB or 2 x 8 GB then 1 x 8 GB
I don't think you need the dual channel memory bandwidth much. I bought 1 x 8 GB, and now a second 8 GB so dimm because it was cheap. I used to go for 2x 4GB myself in these situations, but in the long run you're stuck with 4 GB dimms.
In real world benchmarks of generic applications, dual channel has an average single digit percentage performance increases. In the case of most routing functionality it's unlikely to make a difference. I went with 1x8GB with the plan that if I ever wanted more I could simply buy another 8GB and get 16GB. More flexible than buying 2x4GB right now :)
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By the time you outgrow what you bought something with four times the power will be half the price you paid. Maybe we'll be talking about 10G FttP then.
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something with four times the power will be half the price you paid.
Would you please come closer to the point which device could this be? For sure not uninteresting
to know this hardware.I chose the C2758. I just wanted to keep the router at or around $500US total,
so I decided let's go 2758 for longevity.I really think for 5 years it will easily running! $500 : 5 years = $100 per year : 12 month = ~$8 for a
full UTM devices, depends on the config. and installed packets is not really high pricing, or? And if there
other persons in the household this could be narrowed down once more again.Maybe we'll be talking about 10G FttP then.
Perhaps you are right if the QuickAssist will be up and there and on the other
hand if DPDK is done in pfSense this appliance could transfer 10 GBit/s. -
By the time you outgrow what you bought something with four times the power will be half the price you paid. Maybe we'll be talking about 10G FttP then.
Sure, but this is a router/appliance. This is a turnkey item. i want to plug it in, and have it work with little to no maintenance. If I can bypass multiple cycles of outgrow/replace, that's alot of time I save. And that's worth up-front money to me.
I expect this thing to last me at least 5 years, and with little maintenance and that's perfect.
@BlueKobold:
I really think for 5 years it will easily running! $500 : 5 years = $100 per year : 12 month = ~$8 for a
full UTM devices, depends on the config. and installed packets is not really high pricing, or? And if there
other persons in the household this could be narrowed down once more again.Yup, I expect this thing to last quite a while. I've been using dd-wrt on my routers for close to 5 years now, and the only reason I've been upgrading routers isn't the router function, but rather needing better wifi :) Now that they're separate, I'll be more inclined to look for less expensive wifi upgrades down the road since I don't really care about routing performance.
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I'll be more inclined to look for less expensive wifi upgrades down the road since I don't really care about routing performance.
Likes me, too. ;)