Computers & Hardware > Networking
Ronski's Pfsense router build
Ronski:
I have for a long time been wanting something with a better firewall than a bog standard router, and having seen Chrysalis build decided to build a Pfsense router myself.
I've decided to use a Qotom QOTOM-Q190G4-S02 Mini PC, which has 4 Intel LAN ports, the S02 version will take a 2.5" SSD, the S01 version is slightly smaller, and only takes an Msata drive
Purchased from Amazon, cost is £130.90 + £16 shipping
I've also ordered 8GB of memory, 4 should of been plenty, but at £30 it was not much more than 4GB.
I have a 80GB Intel SSD which is spare, so will be using this as storage.
There's a thread on the PFsense forums with quite a lot of useful info.
I've never used Unix/Linux before so this might be a bit of a learning curve, hopefully it will all go well.
Edit.
Install guide is here, which I documented as I went along with a lot of help from Chrysalis and others.
When taking the case apart make sure you undo the screws on the base, not the sides. Only minor problems I've noticed is the Sata cable is very tight against the side, and when installing the drive, hopefully it will be OK. I also had to use a USB lead to plug my USB thumb drive into as there are only two ports and they are close together.
Some pictures of the hardware.
Chrysalis:
yeah at £30 thats a nice find, mine was £24 and the 8 gig for the same brand was £41, but I think 8 gig for £30 is a good find. :) Rest looks good also. :)
I suggest following what I posted regarding ssd alignment and trim. :)
Chunkers:
This is cool, I think @Chrysalis and @skyeci have a lot to answer for ...
I like your choice of unit, 4 LAN intel LAN ports, 2Ghz quad core and 8 Gb RAM with only 10W power consumption seems almost too good to be true! I like how it has a VGA out so you don't need to faff around with serial comms like I will with the APU2 I have bought.
Look forward to seeing how you get on, as far as I am concerned the more people using pfSense on here, the more likely I will be able to get some help!
I have never installed the FreeBSD flavour of Unix before either but I have installed Linux on lots of different things and have generally found it to be really easy, easier than Windows even, due to its wide compatibility and tolerance of old / legacy hardware and the abundance of helpful people on forums ;) .
Good luck, keep us posted!
Chunks
Chrysalis:
Is the apu2 serial out only?
Mine has dual hdmi, I never went with the apu2.
In terms of overall value, ronski I would say has picked the best unit tho assuming of course it actually works, on mine I have already removed the wireless card (which by the way is not detected by pfsense), so if I add the intel nic's the mini pcie is already empty ready for use. Also the bios on my unit is enterprise stuff, lots of options I typically only have seen on server motherboards.
If I had found ronski's unit first before finding mine, would have I ordered it? I was specifically looking for a aesni cpu, but given the price and the inclusive 4 intel lan ports I think I would have done. I did a bench on my unit which I posted the results in my thread, and even with aesni disabled its more than a dozen times faster than high end consumer routers on the market, and this unit ronski picked has more raw horsepower than mine.
Both units are significantly faster than the apu2 tho, so I am no longer feeling bad I skipped on the apu2 especially as I can simply add a mini pcie to get native intel ports, as serial access only would bug me.
Chunkers:
--- Quote from: Chrysalis on November 27, 2016, 06:08:07 AM ---Is the apu2 serial out only?
--- End quote ---
Yep, so you need to add the cost of a null modem cable / serial interface if you don't have already, plus its faffy
--- Quote from: Chrysalis on November 27, 2016, 06:08:07 AM ---In terms of overall value, ronski I would say has picked the best unit tho assuming of course it actually works, on mine I have already removed the wireless card (which by the way is not detected by pfsense), so if I add the intel nic's the mini pcie is already empty ready for use. Also the bios on my unit is enterprise stuff, lots of options I typically only have seen on server motherboards.
--- End quote ---
Found this on arstechnica forum discussing the QOTOM unit :
--- Quote from: Some Random Dude ---Also, I've used the Qotom system mentioned in the article. Specifically, I've used the Qotom Q190G4. Beware that while it's advertised as having a mini PCI-Express on-board expansion slot for a wireless card, it actually has a plain mini PCI slot. Consequently, the Q190G4 is not suitable for use as a high performance wireless router.
--- End quote ---
--- Quote from: Chrysalis on November 27, 2016, 06:08:07 AM ---If I had found ronski's unit first before finding mine, would have I ordered it? I was specifically looking for a aesni cpu, but given the price and the inclusive 4 intel lan ports I think I would have done. I did a bench on my unit which I posted the results in my thread, and even with aesni disabled its more done a dozen times faster than high end consumer routers on the market, and this unit ronski picked has more raw horsepower than mine.
Both units are significantly faster than the apu2 tho, so I am no longer feeling bad I skipped on the apu2 especially as I can simply add a mini pcie to get native intel ports, as serial access only would bug me.
--- End quote ---
Yep, when I add the pennies up I think I would have been better getting a QOTOM unit as it seems much more powerful than an APU2 unit and just as power efficient - I am pretty sure the APU2 will more than meet my needs however.
Chunks
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