Re: [pfSense] upgrade dual ALIX netgate box?

[b...@todoo.biz]

Le 8 mai 2014 à 21:18, Jim Thompson  a écrit :

> On May 8, 2014, at 12:04 PM, b...@todoo.biz wrote:
> 
>> Hi we are french resellers of Alix / APU
>> 
>> 
>> Le 6 mai 2014 à 21:16, Vick Khera  a écrit :
>> 
>>> I have the dual ALIX RM1U box from netgate which is a bit over 2 years old 
>>> now (and an older one too!)
>>> 
>>> Has anyone attempted replacing the ALIX boards with APU2 boards? They 
>>> appear to use the identical openings and case mounting holes.
>> 
>> This is true. 
> 
> PC Engines updated their cases about 9 months ago.   Cases older than this 
> are about 1mm too small.
> 
>> APU1C comes with an iron plate to be sticked below the APU in order  to 
>> dissipate the heat. 
> 
> Iron?   It’s a heat-conductive pad, with an aluminum plate.
> 
>>> Netgate themselves doesn't sell such a beast so it made me curious as to 
>>> why they wouldn't sell a version with the board swapped and instead 
>>> recommend other devices.
>> 
>> I can’t really tell why NetGate does not resale APU1C 
> 
> http://store.netgate.com/APU1C.aspx (board only, 2GB ram)
> http://store.netgate.com/APU1C4.aspx (board only, 4GB ram)
> http://store.netgate.com/NetgateAPU2.aspx  (system, 2GB ram)
> http://store.netgate.com/NetgateAPU2.aspx  (system, 4GB ram)
> 
>> Currently there is a problem with the MSata sold by PCEngines which does not 
>> support TRIM - this has a limited effect on pfSense where TRIM is not 
>> activated by default. That being said It is not really « normal » for an 
>> MSata device not to support such function and might reveal some other 
>> problems… though so far we have noticed 0 problem on such device. 
> 
> These cards DO support TRIM, but you have to correctly install software on 
> the device to have it be stable.  We are working on a “platform specific 
> release” of pfSense for the APU>

I am talking about PCEngine's ref : 

http://www.pcengines.ch/msata16a.htm

As stated : « Currently on shipment hold . Some customer reported problems 
leading to data loss, e.g. with Sophos UTM. We finally managed to duplicate the 
problem. We suspect that it is related to the TRIM function included in modern 
file systems (e.g. Linux EXT4). » 

This ref has problem with TRIM. 
So you might want to wait for the problem to be solved (which might probably be 
« never ») or find another ref. 

> 
>> We have updated the firmware of the 10 units we have received so far. 
>> We are currently testing the unit with quite good results considering the 
>> price. 
>> 
>>> Also does anyone know of a crypto accelerator board for the APU2? Or is 
>>> that even worth the effort for 4 home-office OpenVPN tunnels?
>> 
>> You really don’t need such item - processor is strong enough to handle any 
>> kind of local VPN (our test shows about 80Mb/s with an OVPN tunnel)… 
> 
> We’re testing 67 Mbps using UDP over OpenVPN AES256.   AES-128 is about 
> 78Mbps.

That’s the figure that we have also. 

> But “don’t really need” is strong language, and to be clear, I disagree.   My 
> connection from my house is faster than this.

Of course if you operate a 100Mb full duplex line from your home this won’t be 
sufficient… ;-) 

But, to get back to the question « does anyone know of a crypto accelerator 
board for the APU2? » 
—> I am not aware of such device for the time being. 

> 
> Jim


«?»¥«?»§«?»¥«?»§«?»¥«?»§«?»¥«?»§«?»¥«?»§«?»¥«?»§

Your provider of OpenSource Appliances
www.osnet.eu

«?»¥«?»§«?»¥«?»§«?»¥«?»§«?»¥«?»§«?»¥«?»§«?»¥«?»§

PGP ID --> 0x1BA3C2FD

___
List mailing list
List@lists.pfsense.org
https://lists.pfsense.org/mailman/listinfo/list

Re: [pfSense] upgrade dual ALIX netgate box?

[Jim Thompson]

On May 8, 2014, at 12:04 PM, b...@todoo.biz wrote:

> Hi we are french resellers of Alix / APU
> 
> 
> Le 6 mai 2014 à 21:16, Vick Khera  a écrit :
> 
>> I have the dual ALIX RM1U box from netgate which is a bit over 2 years old 
>> now (and an older one too!)
>> 
>> Has anyone attempted replacing the ALIX boards with APU2 boards? They appear 
>> to use the identical openings and case mounting holes.
> 
> This is true. 

PC Engines updated their cases about 9 months ago.   Cases older than this are 
about 1mm too small.

> APU1C comes with an iron plate to be sticked below the APU in order  to 
> dissipate the heat. 

Iron?   It’s a heat-conductive pad, with an aluminum plate.

>> Netgate themselves doesn't sell such a beast so it made me curious as to why 
>> they wouldn't sell a version with the board swapped and instead recommend 
>> other devices.
> 
> I can’t really tell why NetGate does not resale APU1C 

http://store.netgate.com/APU1C.aspx (board only, 2GB ram)
http://store.netgate.com/APU1C4.aspx (board only, 4GB ram)
http://store.netgate.com/NetgateAPU2.aspx  (system, 2GB ram)
http://store.netgate.com/NetgateAPU2.aspx  (system, 4GB ram)

> Currently there is a problem with the MSata sold by PCEngines which does not 
> support TRIM - this has a limited effect on pfSense where TRIM is not 
> activated by default. That being said It is not really « normal » for an 
> MSata device not to support such function and might reveal some other 
> problems… though so far we have noticed 0 problem on such device. 

These cards DO support TRIM, but you have to correctly install software on the 
device to have it be stable.  We are working on a “platform specific release” 
of pfSense for the APU>

> We have updated the firmware of the 10 units we have received so far. 
> We are currently testing the unit with quite good results considering the 
> price. 
> 
>> Also does anyone know of a crypto accelerator board for the APU2? Or is that 
>> even worth the effort for 4 home-office OpenVPN tunnels?
> 
> You really don’t need such item - processor is strong enough to handle any 
> kind of local VPN (our test shows about 80Mb/s with an OVPN tunnel)… 

We’re testing 67 Mbps using UDP over OpenVPN AES256.   AES-128 is about 78Mbps.

But “don’t really need” is strong language, and to be clear, I disagree.   My 
connection from my house is faster than this.

Jim


___
List mailing list
List@lists.pfsense.org
https://lists.pfsense.org/mailman/listinfo/list

Re: [pfSense] upgrade dual ALIX netgate box?

[b...@todoo.biz]

Hi we are french resellers of Alix / APU


Le 6 mai 2014 à 21:16, Vick Khera  a écrit :

> I have the dual ALIX RM1U box from netgate which is a bit over 2 years old 
> now (and an older one too!)
> 
> Has anyone attempted replacing the ALIX boards with APU2 boards? They appear 
> to use the identical openings and case mounting holes.

This is true. 

APU1C comes with an iron plate to be sticked below the APU in order  to 
dissipate the heat. 


> 
> Netgate themselves doesn't sell such a beast so it made me curious as to why 
> they wouldn't sell a version with the board swapped and instead recommend 
> other devices.

I can’t really tell why NetGate does not resale APU1C 

Currently there is a problem with the MSata sold by PCEngines which does not 
support TRIM - this has a limited effect on pfSense where TRIM is not activated 
by default. That being said It is not really « normal » for an MSata device not 
to support such function and might reveal some other problems… though so far we 
have noticed 0 problem on such device. 

We have updated the firmware of the 10 units we have received so far. 
We are currently testing the unit with quite good results considering the 
price. 



> 
> Also does anyone know of a crypto accelerator board for the APU2? Or is that 
> even worth the effort for 4 home-office OpenVPN tunnels?

You really don’t need such item - processor is strong enough to handle any kind 
of local VPN (our test shows about 80Mb/s with an OVPN tunnel)… 


;-) 


«?»¥«?»§«?»¥«?»§«?»¥«?»§«?»¥«?»§«?»¥«?»§«?»¥«?»§

BSD - BSD - BSD - BSD - BSD - BSD - BSD - BSD -

«?»¥«?»§«?»¥«?»§«?»¥«?»§«?»¥«?»§«?»¥«?»§«?»¥«?»§

PGP ID --> 0x1BA3C2FD

___
List mailing list
List@lists.pfsense.org
https://lists.pfsense.org/mailman/listinfo/list

Re: [pfSense] upgrade dual ALIX netgate box?

[Jim Pingle]

On 5/7/2014 9:03 AM, Vick Khera wrote:
> I wonder then why pcengines points to the ALIX case from the APU board
> page as a recommended case.

They refreshed their cases about 6 months so they would be compatible.
The newer ALIX+APU style cases fit the ALIX and the APU both, but the
older ALIX cases are the ones that don't fit properly. I haven't tried
it myself, but someone might try to use ~1mm thick washers to gain a
little height on the stand-offs, but I wouldn't trust it to put adequate
pressure on the heat spreader to ensure proper cooling.

> Thanks for the info. Seems like it almost fits, but not quite... this 1U
> dual board form factor is very convenient for me, and having a more
> powerful system in it is attractive to me. Maybe I'll try to see if I
> can fit it using some additional mounting hardware.

Even if it did fit as expected, you may not get adequate cooling with
both units' heat spreaders pumping heat into the same single, large
metal case. Netgate is working on something to accommodate two APUs
comfortably.

Jim
___
List mailing list
List@lists.pfsense.org
https://lists.pfsense.org/mailman/listinfo/list

Re: [pfSense] upgrade dual ALIX netgate box?

[Vick Khera]

On Tue, May 6, 2014 at 3:24 PM, Jeremy Porter <
jpor...@electricsheepfencing.com> wrote:

> The ALIX rack mount case, as the same issue as the as the individual
> cases, the standoff heights are wrong, for the APU with the heatspreader.
>

I wonder then why pcengines points to the ALIX case from the APU board page
as a recommended case.

Thanks for the info. Seems like it almost fits, but not quite... this 1U
dual board form factor is very convenient for me, and having a more
powerful system in it is attractive to me. Maybe I'll try to see if I can
fit it using some additional mounting hardware.
___
List mailing list
List@lists.pfsense.org
https://lists.pfsense.org/mailman/listinfo/list

Re: [pfSense] upgrade dual ALIX netgate box?

[Jeremy Porter]

On 5/6/2014 2:16 PM, Vick Khera wrote:
> I have the dual ALIX RM1U box from netgate which is a bit over 2 years old
> now (and an older one too!)
>
> Has anyone attempted replacing the ALIX boards with APU2 boards? They
> appear to use the identical openings and case mounting holes.
>
> Netgate themselves doesn't sell such a beast so it made me curious as to
> why they wouldn't sell a version with the board swapped and instead
> recommend other devices.
>
> Also does anyone know of a crypto accelerator board for the APU2? Or is
> that even worth the effort for 4 home-office OpenVPN tunnels?
>
>

The APU boards require a heatspeader that makes the space between the
board and the case larger.  They APU use taller standoffs.
You can fit the APU into the the ALIX case, but you'll end up bending
the circuit board, or loosing the heatspreader, neither of which
are likely to make you happy.
Modern CPUs are typically much faster than crypto accelerators.  By the
time the data stream goes into the pci-express bus and back out,
it  could already have been processed.For 4 openvpn tunnels, it
wouldn't be needed.

The ALIX rack mount case, as the same issue as the as the individual
cases, the standoff heights are wrong, for the APU with the heatspreader.
___
List mailing list
List@lists.pfsense.org
https://lists.pfsense.org/mailman/listinfo/list

Re: [pfSense] upgrade dual ALIX netgate box?

[Richard Lussier]

On Tue, May 6, 2014 at 3:16 PM, Vick Khera > wrote:


APU2 boards


That should be APU1, obviously.



APU boards need a heatsink from the bottom.
In alix enclosures, the spacing is right for the aluminium block supplied.
You will have to check to have the proper contact with the bottom of the 
enclosure for correct heat transfer.

The rest should fit
Richard

___
List mailing list
List@lists.pfsense.org
https://lists.pfsense.org/mailman/listinfo/list



___
List mailing list
List@lists.pfsense.org
https://lists.pfsense.org/mailman/listinfo/list

Re: [pfSense] upgrade dual ALIX netgate box?

[Vick Khera]

On Tue, May 6, 2014 at 3:16 PM, Vick Khera  wrote:

> APU2 boards


That should be APU1, obviously.
___
List mailing list
List@lists.pfsense.org
https://lists.pfsense.org/mailman/listinfo/list

[pfSense] upgrade dual ALIX netgate box?

[Vick Khera]

I have the dual ALIX RM1U box from netgate which is a bit over 2 years old
now (and an older one too!)

Has anyone attempted replacing the ALIX boards with APU2 boards? They
appear to use the identical openings and case mounting holes.

Netgate themselves doesn't sell such a beast so it made me curious as to
why they wouldn't sell a version with the board swapped and instead
recommend other devices.

Also does anyone know of a crypto accelerator board for the APU2? Or is
that even worth the effort for 4 home-office OpenVPN tunnels?
___
List mailing list
List@lists.pfsense.org
https://lists.pfsense.org/mailman/listinfo/list