So I'm going to set up a network router / firewall / general home server (DNS, DHCP, NTP) using a 5501-70 card. In addition to normal network server duties, it will also do some monitoring of industrial control-type equipment, using both serial and USB interfaces. One of the goals is low power consumption (the current machine is a 2U rackmount with 1GHz Pentium, which is mostly idle, and uses about 50-60W, plus I need a separate wireless AP for the house).
Non-default equipment will include - a 2.5" hard disk (initially a former 80GB laptop disk, I'll try to get a 24x7 rated 2.5" or 1.8" disk drive later), - a miniPCI wireless card (because this machine will also become the wireless AP for our house), - and a 4-port USB card. Why did I pick the 5501? Mostly because it has a more studly internal power supply, and I was worried that the 4801 might not be able to handle the power draw of those three accessories. Also, the extra CPU speed and RAM won't hurt, and the price difference is minor. And there is another very superficial reason: Soekris has the metal cases for the 5501 in stock, while the case for the 4801 is backordered. The OS will be OpenBSD, at this point 4.1. I'm not worried about the OS running out of memory or out of CPU cycles; I'm monitoring both on my current machine. Boot happens from the disk (no need to split the system between CF and disk); OS install is by using the disk on another machine (with CD-ROM drive), then transferring the disk over. So far, does this sound reasonable? Will all this stuff fit in the Soekris metal case? I understand that I'll have to drill extra holes for the 802.11 antennas, not a problem. This brings up the question: What wireless miniPCI card to pick. I had assumed that Atheros cards are the default that everyone uses; Wistron cards are for example available from www.netgate.com. Does this sound like a good idea? Are there any known issues with Atheros cards and OpenBSD? Transmit power is not a huge issue, as I need to only serve as an AP for a medium-size single family wood-framed home. However, I'm now seeing that the Atheros card only seems to come in a 802.11a/b/g version, and I have absolutely no use for 802.11a, and I've heard that 802.11a radios are power hogs (or at least they were early on). Is this really an issue? Are other wireless cards preferable? Any other important things I might have forgotten? -- Ralph Becker-Szendy (408)395-1435 [EMAIL PROTECTED] 735 Sunset Ridge Road; Los Gatos, CA 95033 _______________________________________________ Soekris-tech mailing list [email protected] http://lists.soekris.com/mailman/listinfo/soekris-tech
