Re: [pfSense] ASRock E3C236D2I+Pentium G4560 vs SM A1SRi-C2758F

[ullbeking]

The ASRock C2750D4I is similar to the Supermicro C2758 as they both 
suffer from the same problem, i.e., the AVR54 C2000 bug.  I searched for 
"C2750D4I" in the forums and got a lot of hits describing the same problem.


In contrast, the ASRock E3C236D2I is completely thing, and sidesteps 
this issue altogether.  It's a Socket 1151 board, which means there's a 
clear upgrade path that doesn't even include the C2000.


I'll contact you privately about your spare pfSense system.


On 30/10/2017 14:35, Vick Khera wrote:

There are wide-spread reports of ASRock C2750D4I board failures in the
FreeNAS forums. I've suffered from it. Not sure if that applies to the
board you are considering.

There are also wide-spread reports of issues with the Supermicro board you
are considering. I have 4 of these in service for 3+ years with no issues.
I recently closed down one of my offices and have a spare pfSense branded
C2758 system if you're interested.

Personally, I'd go with the Supermicro solution. They easily handle Gigabit
WAN.
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Re: [pfSense] ASRock E3C236D2I+Pentium G4560 vs SM A1SRi-C2758F

[Vick Khera]

There are wide-spread reports of ASRock C2750D4I board failures in the
FreeNAS forums. I've suffered from it. Not sure if that applies to the
board you are considering.

There are also wide-spread reports of issues with the Supermicro board you
are considering. I have 4 of these in service for 3+ years with no issues.
I recently closed down one of my offices and have a spare pfSense branded
C2758 system if you're interested.

Personally, I'd go with the Supermicro solution. They easily handle Gigabit
WAN.
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Re: [pfSense] ASRock E3C236D2I+Pentium G4560 vs SM A1SRi-C2758F

[ullbeking]

Indeed, I was very excited when the C3000 series was announced. 
Probably more than any other computer hardware announcement release.


But all this continued speculation and excitement is premature, building 
unnecessary hype.  Aside from a couple of industry insiders, I don't 
know a single person who has even seen one.  You can't buy a C3000 in 
the stores and nobody knows when they'll be available.


Also, it's a bad idea to put critical infrastructure on bleeding-edge 
hardware.  The notorious AVR54 C2000 bug has _finally_ been acknowledged 
and understood upstream, and at least you can get an RMA.  But that took 
a long time and effort, even with widespread exposure of an obvious issue.


I already have a C2758 but it is being used for something else and is 
completely inaccessible.  I've got another on the way for another use, 
so maybe I can experiment with that one if that transaction works itself 
out.


I am drawn towards the ASRock E3C236D2I out of interest, to try 
something a bit different, and for future flexibility.  I presume 
there's nothing about this option that makes it a bad choice for running 
pfSense.



On 29/10/2017 17:22, Jonathan Willsher wrote:

I dont know if you own the boards already that you are thinking about using, 
but SM has new C3000 based boards as well. There is tight availability right 
now though.

Jwillsher

Sent from my iPhone


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Today's Topics:

   1. ASRock E3C236D2I+Pentium G4560 vs SM A1SRi-C2758F (ullbeking)


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Message: 1
Date: Sat, 28 Oct 2017 21:45:59 +0100
From: ullbeking <ullbek...@andrewnesbit.org>
To: List@lists.pfsense.org
Subject: [pfSense] ASRock E3C236D2I+Pentium G4560 vs SM A1SRi-C2758F
Message-ID: <51275815-b81f-7390-1c97-b56ae0b26...@andrewnesbit.org>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed

Hi all!

[I originally tried read submit one of these in the kitchen, there was
an apparent transient connection failure of unknown nauture between
passenger and driver.  However it come across better this way.]

I decided to try out a thought experiment to see what options are
available and how versatile they are, for running pfsense as a
firewwall+router with four NICs each.

Although I'm virtualizing large parts of my network, pfsense is one
thing that should run in its own box, with minimal fussing.  One of my
requirements is that it runs on server-grade hardware.  I came up with
two options:

1.  ASRock Rack E3C236D2I plus Pentium G4560 (and updated BIOS), 16 GB
DDR4, and storage.  The board has two NICs but I can add more using the
PCIe expansion port.  Clearly these would have to be added using
low-profile or half-height expansion cards/

2.  Supermicro A1SRi-C2758F system (new, or fixed if carrying the AVR54
C2000 B0/C0 stepping bug), 16 GB DDR3, and storage.

Fanless should be feasible, and all I need is a capable, modest system
that can easily be repurposed or resold if need be.  Each system should
be able able to run in a mini-ITX box, such as an SFF Akasa.  Akasa even
sells passively cooled mini-ITX boxes specificially designed for
Supermicro A1SAi/A1SRi, and I'm pretty sure I can make a fanless mini
ITX case work for the ASRock E3C236D2I+G4560 combo too.  The only thing
is that the CPU + heat sink + fan (if present) can fit vertically inside
the case (total height inside the case is 68.5 mm).

Either way, I can upgrade the RAM and have a virtualization server able
to handle light loads.  The particular advantages of Item 2. above, and
what personally draws me to it, are that it's more versatile, the CPU is
upgradeable, and it uses DDR4.

Both CPUs have similar PassMark scores, and when the sums are done they
cost about the same as each other.  On the other hand, if I'm going to
be using 4+ NICs, then I imagine I'd want at least four cores to avoid
bottlenecks at the NICs.  Alternativelu, are threads via hyperthreading
sufficient for this?

What do you think?  I'd appreciate any opinions.  Thanks!

P.S. Are there known problems posting to the forums at the moment?


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Re: [pfSense] ASRock E3C236D2I+Pentium G4560 vs SM A1SRi-C2758F

[Jim Thompson]

> On Oct 28, 2017, at 3:45 PM, ullbeking  wrote:
> 
> P.S. Are there known problems posting to the forums at the moment?

Our upstream provider is having IPv6 issues. 

Jim
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Re: [pfSense] ASRock E3C236D2I+Pentium G4560 vs SM A1SRi-C2758F

[Jonathan Willsher]

I dont know if you own the boards already that you are thinking about using, 
but SM has new C3000 based boards as well. There is tight availability right 
now though.

Jwillsher

Sent from my iPhone

> On Oct 29, 2017, at 1:00 PM, list-requ...@lists.pfsense.org wrote:
> 
> Send List mailing list submissions to
>list@lists.pfsense.org
> 
> To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
>https://lists.pfsense.org/mailman/listinfo/list
> or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
>list-requ...@lists.pfsense.org
> 
> You can reach the person managing the list at
>list-ow...@lists.pfsense.org
> 
> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
> than "Re: Contents of List digest..."
> 
> 
> Today's Topics:
> 
>   1. ASRock E3C236D2I+Pentium G4560 vs SM A1SRi-C2758F (ullbeking)
> 
> 
> --
> 
> Message: 1
> Date: Sat, 28 Oct 2017 21:45:59 +0100
> From: ullbeking <ullbek...@andrewnesbit.org>
> To: List@lists.pfsense.org
> Subject: [pfSense] ASRock E3C236D2I+Pentium G4560 vs SM A1SRi-C2758F
> Message-ID: <51275815-b81f-7390-1c97-b56ae0b26...@andrewnesbit.org>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed
> 
> Hi all!
> 
> [I originally tried read submit one of these in the kitchen, there was 
> an apparent transient connection failure of unknown nauture between 
> passenger and driver.  However it come across better this way.]
> 
> I decided to try out a thought experiment to see what options are 
> available and how versatile they are, for running pfsense as a 
> firewwall+router with four NICs each.
> 
> Although I'm virtualizing large parts of my network, pfsense is one 
> thing that should run in its own box, with minimal fussing.  One of my 
> requirements is that it runs on server-grade hardware.  I came up with 
> two options:
> 
> 1.  ASRock Rack E3C236D2I plus Pentium G4560 (and updated BIOS), 16 GB 
> DDR4, and storage.  The board has two NICs but I can add more using the 
> PCIe expansion port.  Clearly these would have to be added using 
> low-profile or half-height expansion cards/
> 
> 2.  Supermicro A1SRi-C2758F system (new, or fixed if carrying the AVR54 
> C2000 B0/C0 stepping bug), 16 GB DDR3, and storage.
> 
> Fanless should be feasible, and all I need is a capable, modest system 
> that can easily be repurposed or resold if need be.  Each system should 
> be able able to run in a mini-ITX box, such as an SFF Akasa.  Akasa even 
> sells passively cooled mini-ITX boxes specificially designed for 
> Supermicro A1SAi/A1SRi, and I'm pretty sure I can make a fanless mini 
> ITX case work for the ASRock E3C236D2I+G4560 combo too.  The only thing 
> is that the CPU + heat sink + fan (if present) can fit vertically inside 
> the case (total height inside the case is 68.5 mm).
> 
> Either way, I can upgrade the RAM and have a virtualization server able 
> to handle light loads.  The particular advantages of Item 2. above, and 
> what personally draws me to it, are that it's more versatile, the CPU is 
> upgradeable, and it uses DDR4.
> 
> Both CPUs have similar PassMark scores, and when the sums are done they 
> cost about the same as each other.  On the other hand, if I'm going to 
> be using 4+ NICs, then I imagine I'd want at least four cores to avoid 
> bottlenecks at the NICs.  Alternativelu, are threads via hyperthreading 
> sufficient for this?
> 
> What do you think?  I'd appreciate any opinions.  Thanks!
> 
> P.S. Are there known problems posting to the forums at the moment?
> 
> 
> --
> 
> Subject: Digest Footer
> 
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> --
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> End of List Digest, Vol 900, Issue 1
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[pfSense] ASRock E3C236D2I+Pentium G4560 vs SM A1SRi-C2758F

[ullbeking]

Hi all!

[I originally tried read submit one of these in the kitchen, there was 
an apparent transient connection failure of unknown nauture between 
passenger and driver.  However it come across better this way.]


I decided to try out a thought experiment to see what options are 
available and how versatile they are, for running pfsense as a 
firewwall+router with four NICs each.


Although I'm virtualizing large parts of my network, pfsense is one 
thing that should run in its own box, with minimal fussing.  One of my 
requirements is that it runs on server-grade hardware.  I came up with 
two options:


1.  ASRock Rack E3C236D2I plus Pentium G4560 (and updated BIOS), 16 GB 
DDR4, and storage.  The board has two NICs but I can add more using the 
PCIe expansion port.  Clearly these would have to be added using 
low-profile or half-height expansion cards/


2.  Supermicro A1SRi-C2758F system (new, or fixed if carrying the AVR54 
C2000 B0/C0 stepping bug), 16 GB DDR3, and storage.


Fanless should be feasible, and all I need is a capable, modest system 
that can easily be repurposed or resold if need be.  Each system should 
be able able to run in a mini-ITX box, such as an SFF Akasa.  Akasa even 
sells passively cooled mini-ITX boxes specificially designed for 
Supermicro A1SAi/A1SRi, and I'm pretty sure I can make a fanless mini 
ITX case work for the ASRock E3C236D2I+G4560 combo too.  The only thing 
is that the CPU + heat sink + fan (if present) can fit vertically inside 
the case (total height inside the case is 68.5 mm).


Either way, I can upgrade the RAM and have a virtualization server able 
to handle light loads.  The particular advantages of Item 2. above, and 
what personally draws me to it, are that it's more versatile, the CPU is 
upgradeable, and it uses DDR4.


Both CPUs have similar PassMark scores, and when the sums are done they 
cost about the same as each other.  On the other hand, if I'm going to 
be using 4+ NICs, then I imagine I'd want at least four cores to avoid 
bottlenecks at the NICs.  Alternativelu, are threads via hyperthreading 
sufficient for this?


What do you think?  I'd appreciate any opinions.  Thanks!

P.S. Are there known problems posting to the forums at the moment?
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