> > I'm trying to make a small router/firewall running with OpenBSD but before > > setting up this I want to know her electric consummation. > > > > I have recently discover a linux software whose name is: powertop. > > I don't think there's a powertop port for OpenBSD just yet, but for > the application you are talking about here, there are a number of > options for running with less power hungry hardware such as the units > from soekris or other modest clock speed units. In general, for a > routerish unit you could cut significantly on power requirements by > throwing out the parts you don't need, eg going for serial console > instead of that graphics card with its own cooling, aiming for lower > power CPUs and so on.
Seconded. Look for systems which are "passively cooled" - i.e. have no fan. This generally means they don't generate much heat in the first place. For example, there are VIA processors which only consume a few watts. Some of these have crypto accelerators and hardware random number generators built in, which is an extra bonus :-) As well as the really tiny systems like the Soekris, you could look at mini-ITX motherboards from the likes of Epia. My home desktop system is an Epia M-10000 in a fanless case. I've not measured its power consumption, but I think it's pretty low. Regards, Brian.
