On Sun, Mar 27, 2011 at 10:04:11AM -0400, Maxim Khitrov wrote: > On Sun, Mar 27, 2011 at 9:16 AM, Paul Schenkeveld <[email protected]> > wrote: > > Hi, > > > > I've been happily using many Soekris network appliances for almost 10 > > years now but Soekris is not in a big hurry to come with a gigabit > > platform :( > > > > So I am looking for for a decent network appliance platform to start > > replacing Soekris boxes. Â On my wish list are: > > > > Â - Can run FreeBSD >= 8.2 (i386 or amd64). > > Â - Models with 4 to 8 (or more) network interfaces, at least 4 gigabit > > Â Â but all gigabit is better. Â Preferrably Intel em or igb chips. > > Â - Preferrably a choice of low power CPUs (Intel Atom D510/D525?) and > > Â Â more powerful CPUs (Core 2/Xeon) > > Â - Bootable from flash or (SATA 2,5") SSD > > Â - 1U rackmount models available but preferrably also small passively > > Â Â cooled desktop boxes. > > Â - Serial console preferrable over VGA console. > > Â - IPMI would be a plus but not absolutely required. > > Â - Distribution channel in Europe. > > > > Any ideas? > > > > Thanks in advance, > > > > Paul Schenkeveld > > I spent the past few months looking for the same thing in US. > Unfortunately, I haven't found any existing devices that meet those > criteria. The Soekris net6501 [1] should be out some time this year, > as you may already know, but there has been very little information > about the time frame. > > In the end, I decided to build my own system, which would meet most of > your requirements. The components are listed below: > > Motherboard: Supermicro X7SPA-HF-D525 (Atom D525) > Memory: Crucial CT2KIT25664BC1067 (2x2GB DDR3 1066) > Network Card: Intel E1G44HT (4-port gigabit) > SSD: OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD2-2VTXE60G > Enclosure: Thermaltake Element Q VL52021N2U > > The final price for all components was ~$680.
I've been looking at Supermicro too, that would solve the problem when no more that 6 interfaces are needed. However I have a number of boxes with 7 (net4801+lan1741) or 8 (net5501+lan1741) interfaces in production and those are the first ones that need replacement. Anyway, thanks for sharing your experience! > I've had no problems setting up FreeBSD 8.2 amd64 on this box. The > system has 6 gigabit ports total (2 em, 4 igb). There is IPMI with > KVM-over-IP on em0. No issues with my choice of SSD, though I've now > added a hot-swap 3.5" enclosure in the 5.25" bay, which will have a > mechanical drive for backup purposes. > > You'll have to look around for a 1U enclosure. My case has a single > fan in the power supply, which I don't mind. It's impossible to hear > and creates a tiny bit of airflow right over the CPU heat sink. If you > don't want any moving parts at all, take a look at picoPSU from > mini-box.com. > > - Max Paul Schenkeveld _______________________________________________ [email protected] mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-hardware To unsubscribe, send any mail to "[email protected]"
