Considering replace HP T740 based PFsense router w/ Qotom Q11032H6 for lower power/heat

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rahlquist

New Member
Jul 18, 2022
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Hey yall,

A few years back I built a router using a HP T740 coupled with a Mellanox Cx4 2x 10Gbps SFP+ nic. It's served me well thought its always run a bit toasty and consumes about 65-72w in the config I have. So I am considering Qotom Q11032H6 as a replacement.

So here is my main questions, is this thing still a good choice? My minimum requirements are pretty simple.
Decent CPU
16gb ram seems a good target
Single NVME slot
2x 10Gbps ports, SFP+ preferred but 10GbE ports are an ok compromise
Minimal cooling

Any thoughts or alternative suggestions?
Thanks!
 
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rahlquist

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Jul 18, 2022
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mourgne said:
FYI pfsense/opnsense doesn't work with the 10g nic on that board yet...


Looks like it's getting closer though.
Click to expand...
Arrg. Thanks for the heads up. That is one of the reasons I built the one I have, and even it had one painful compatibility issue (at least at install time). Well so much for that idea.

Open to any suggestions then for something with dual 10Gps nic or better and N305 or better that is known to work with PfSense

Meanwhile I will start looking into a ITX 1U solution.
 
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blunden

Well-Known Member
Nov 29, 2019
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You can find some discussion about another Qotom model that has 2 * Intel X710 SFP+ slots in the thread below:


Not sure whether it's available yet, and it's more expensive. I would also double check how the PCI-E lanes are assigned on that one. It's pretty easy to contact Qotom and ask about such things though. :)

You also have the option of running a Linux based distro on the Q11032H6, but I assume you want to stay with pfSense? :)
 
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rahlquist

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Jul 18, 2022
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blunden said:
You also have the option of running a Linux based distro on the Q11032H6, but I assume you want to stay with pfSense? :)
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I'm not married to pfSense, and will change if I must, keeping it would be easier from a quick swap standpoint but it is what it is. Looking like that Qotom isnt really in mass availability yet and I have had more than my fair share of not quite ready hardware....

Definitely looking like if I want to replace it its going to have to be DIY again. I do have a space 3 us chassis and space in the rack. Maybe I will see what I can find for Intel Core I3-12300T.

Thanks!
 
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Greg_E

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Oct 10, 2024
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A 3u space will let you put many of the SFF computers on a shelf with the low profile card, that opens up a lot of ground. I think the HP Prodesk 600 will only have 1 or maybe 2 slots for you, but the EliteDesk 800 will offer more slots. Not sure on power draw but it might be the same or less than your T740. Might be worth looking for power draw on a few of the SFF computers and see if you can find something nice and low.

Yes the T740 can get a bit hot when you get up into the 50+ watt range.
 
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mourgne

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Aug 16, 2019
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I’m strongly considering picking up a refurb ms-01 as a router. A little bit overprovisioned, but pretty nice format.
 
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louie1961

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May 15, 2023
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You can run OPNsense or pfsense on that box. Just install Proxmox and virtualize the OPNsense or pfsense in a VM. I run a IMB-V2000M motherboard with Realtek NICs as my pfSense box and virtualizing it in pfSense was the best thing I ever did. I installed the Realtek driver from Reltek using the DKMS process. I just checked and the Marvel driver includes the dkms process. That is nice because it will automatically rebuild the driver with every kernel update
 
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louie1961

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May 15, 2023
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That being said, I am not a fan of the Twin Lake CPUs with only 9 pci lanes. I would go for something more capable. I want the extra horsepower to run pfBlockerNG, Crowdsec, etc. On my setup I virtualized pfSense and then added my cloudflare connector in an LXC container and spun up a Debian 13 VM to host docker, and I have Librespeed, Nginx, Uptime Kuma and Vaultwarden running there. I turned my router into something of an "edge" server for my network
 
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