Dell VEP/VMWare Edge/Velo Cloud SD-WAN/VeraCloud VEP1400/VEP1400-X firewall units

[nmpu]

Thanks, I thought the prices were pretty good, they've sold pretty steadily so far.

Wow, I guess I need to sell some from my stash.

I don't see any lower prices on eBay, except for some listings that don't come with the power supply.

Many recycler types will accept much less than the BIN price. If you look at the sold listings, almost all have 'best offer' enabled. Some of those sold listings were purchased by me at 10% of the BIN price. eBay hides that information.

I assume you know about the equivalent white-case VMware models? The Edge 640 is a VEP1445 with an extra 16GB DRAM. The Edge 680 should be the same as the VEP1485. The 640/680 models are far more common-- at least in the US.

This link will eventually expire, but here's a recent example. I did not buy these-- too expensive: 2x Edge 640 with rack, no power supply


This was my personal best. Unit checked out fine.

I would think that including the locking power supply would be valuable vs trying to buy it elsewhere or getting a matching generic barrel power supply?

Yes, the locking plug is a novelty, but it's still a standard jack. Maybe $10~$20 for a (quality) compatible power supply. That's something that many of us here already have stockpiled. In fact, I use a 12V feed from a larger PS in my cabinet.

You didn't include (closeup) photos of the actual labels. According to the datasheet, all of your units should have come with a 240GB (likely 256GB) SATA SSD. What happened there? Did you remove the drives? If so, did you repaste the CPU before reassembly?

 

[oneplane]

While they are available in the US, it's expensive to buy when in the EU, the CAN option is pretty attractive.

 

[nmpu]

While they are available in the US, it's expensive to buy when in the EU, the CAN option is pretty attractive.

I may have US blinders on. How do the shipping and taxes differ when originating from Canada vs US? Also, how does the total cost compare to other available mini PCs?

 

[oneplane]

I may have US blinders on. How do the shipping and taxes differ when originating from Canada vs US? Also, how does the total cost compare to other available mini PCs?

The US is one of the most expensive places to order from at this point; we have the option to buy from the UK which is cheaper to import but slightly higher priced; Canada is almost as fast and cheap but much lower pricing. Cheapest is within the EU, next up would be China which also delivers faster than the US.

Mini-PC options are somewhat limited; ODM/OEM hardware is easiest, aliexpress is next, local refurb (rather limited), and then import from non-US, and finally import from US.

Getting a VEP1400 from the US from eBay right now is essentially going to cost about 150 on top of whatever the list price is.

The US used to be cheaper than Canada from an import and shipping perspective, but that's gone now.

 

[hotneutron]

I don't have one of these particular boxes, but I have successfully used a 10GBASE-T transceiver without stability issues in my Atom C3758 based Qotom mini PC, despite the Intel X553 NIC not officially supporting 10GBASE-T transceivers.

All the transceivers I've confirmed to work were based on the low power Broadcom chip found in some, but not all, 80 and 100 meter rated 10GBASE-T transceivers. They all report themselves as being 10GBASE-SR transceivers for compatibility reasons. I've recently heard that at least some manufacturers are replacing the Broadcom chip with some Marvell chip due to shortages, so you'd have to confirm the chip used with the seller before buying one.

I tried the broadcom's low power chip transceivers, those are marked -80 meters 10GBase-T, and it still exhibits the same problem of as the 30 meter transceivers, link goes up and down repeatedly when connecting to the Sonic's XGS-PON terminal's 10G RJ45 port.

 

[nmpu]

I tried the broadcom's low power chip transceivers, those are marked -80 meters 10GBase-T, and it still exhibits the same problem of as the 30 meter transceivers, link goes up and down repeatedly when connecting to the Sonic's XGS-PON terminal's 10G RJ45 port.

I've only used the SFP+ ports with direct-attach copper or optical at 10Gb. I've never gotten 1Gb to work in any format. I don't own any 10Gb Ethernet modules to test with. Have you confirmed that either side will work with different equipment?

 

[blunden]

I tried the broadcom's low power chip transceivers, those are marked -80 meters 10GBase-T, and it still exhibits the same problem of as the 30 meter transceivers, link goes up and down repeatedly when connecting to the Sonic's XGS-PON terminal's 10G RJ45 port.

Hmm, weird. And you know that the cable is good? Do you have other 10GBASE-T equipment you can test with?

I can only speek for the same NIC integrated in the Intel C3758 in my Qotom mini PC, but it worked just fine connected to a Huawei switch using a 30+ meter run of CAT6 for months. Both ends used the same Broadcom based FlexOptix 10GBASE-T transceiver.

I've also tried with at least one of the Broadcom based transceivers I got from AliExpress and it seemed to work fine too. I don't remember if I tested both or not, but they both linked up to a local Realtek switch when in the Qotom PC though.

 

[vertexsys]

Yes, the locking plug is a novelty, but it's still a standard jack. Maybe $10~$20 for a (quality) compatible power supply. That's something that many of us here already have stockpiled. In fact, I use a 12V feed from a larger PS in my cabinet.


You didn't include (closeup) photos of the actual labels. According to the datasheet, all of your units should have come with a 240GB (likely 256GB) SATA SSD. What happened there? Did you remove the drives? If so, did you repaste the CPU before reassembly?

Yeah, those are great prices for sure, and it's tough to beat ebay BIN pricing from recyclers. YMMV on 'for parts', for example, there's a recycler near me that uses 'for parts' as a covert way to sell 'broken'. The locking plug is a nice touch, as it the mounting bracket. I think getting a warranty is worthwhile, especially for someone who wants something to work and not have to worry about trial and error or diagnosing and replacing parts.

The SATA SSD was removed and shredded per client requirements. It was removed without disassembling the unit, so the thermal paste on the CPU is untouched. As far as I understand they can fit an M.2 2280 SATA (currently 2242 but the peg can be moved)

For US buyers, maybe there are better deals out there on ebay - really, I should say, there are always better deals on ebay if you catch them. For Canada and the rest of the world, shipping is reasonable, there are no duties, and no headache. And, fwiw, more than half of the buyers of these so far have been from the US - were given full heads up of tariffs, and still chose to buy because the price was good. Everyone has been happy so far.

 

[nmpu]

The SATA SSD was removed and shredded per client requirements. It was removed without disassembling the unit, so the thermal paste on the CPU is untouched. As far as I understand they can fit an M.2 2280 SATA (currently 2242 but the peg can be moved)

For those without personal experience, the top of the PCB has easy access by removing 4 screws and sliding off the top plastic cover. The Wi-Fi module is on the top. So is the CPU and heatsink. The SATA SSD is on the bottom of the PCB. The bottom of the case is cast aluminum. There's a small access panel which holds the fans. If you remove this access panel, you can see the SATA SSD, but the drive and mounting screw are captive under a ledge. I admit that it might be possible to remove a drive with some type of low-profile right-angle Phillips. Getting a drive back in would require even more precision-- especially a 2280 where the post is further recessed. The screws for the CPU heatsink pass through the heatsink and PCB and thread directly into the aluminum case bottom. To free the PCB, the CPU heatsink must be removed. The 2242 and 2280 mounting posts are both riveted. This means a 2280 drive must either have no components on the bottom or the 2240 post must be ground down to provide clearance.

 

[nmpu]

Yeah, those are great prices for sure, and it's tough to beat ebay BIN pricing from recyclers. YMMV on 'for parts', for example, there's a recycler near me that uses 'for parts' as a covert way to sell 'broken'.

So, you don't consider yourself a recycler? What would be the proper term for someone who removes and destroys drives under contract and then resells what remains?

This thread will be 3 years old in March. I don't think you'll find a single mention of a dead unit. I do recall one recent 640 that was received with some type of firmware corruption. The eBay seller sent a replacement. I did destroy a unit by accidently grabbing the wrong 48V POE plug from under my desk. All other damage has been cosmetic. Scratches to the case or maybe a SFP+ cage got smashed and needed straightening.

I took a chance on the $39 'parts' 640 unit because there was enough value to balance the risk. At minimum, you'd likely salvage a 256GB industrial SSD, 16GB ECC DDR4 industrial SODIMM, and 2 OEM fans. All those parts survived even my rogue 48V adapter. I've encountered one unit where one of the heatsink screws was stripped. My destroyed unit donated a more pristine plastic cover as well as the heatsink.

I think getting a warranty is worthwhile, especially for someone who wants something to work and not have to worry about trial and error or diagnosing and replacing parts.

Have you updated the firmware? That's not always a straightforward process. On multiple occasions, I've ended up with inoperable network ports which required multiple factory resets and reloading firmware to resolve. Without recent BIOS, there's at least one virtualization bug. You've already removed the SSD which means the unit would (realistically) have to be completely disassembled and repasted in order to install a drive.

 

[seb101]

Hi folks. Just stumbled on this thread. I bought a load of Dell EMC branded white-box VEP1400s with WiFi, they also have the SIM slot and spare mPCIE for a WWAN card. I was initially using these for remote LTE routers on OpenWRT and they seemed to be fine.

No watchdog issues, but I am running into the problem now trying to run OPNSense on one of them, it only shows the 4 ixgbe interfaces, none of the 6 RJ45 ports work.

There is a LOT of confusing information in this thread as there are so many different varients of this platform. I think the white-box VEP1400 is hardware idential to the black box SD-WAN Edge 610. So has anyone managed to work out a config that gets the RJ45 copper ports working in FreeBSD/OPNSense on the 1400/610 platform?

Thanks!

 

[ast3citos]

Hi folks. Just stumbled on this thread. I bought a load of Dell EMC branded white-box VEP1400s with WiFi, they also have the SIM slot and spare mPCIE for a WWAN card. I was initially using these for remote LTE routers on OpenWRT and they seemed to be fine.

No watchdog issues, but I am running into the problem now trying to run OPNSense on one of them, it only shows the 4 ixgbe interfaces, none of the 6 RJ45 ports work.

There is a LOT of confusing information in this thread as there are so many different varients of this platform. I think the white-box VEP1400 is hardware idential to the black box SD-WAN Edge 610. So has anyone managed to work out a config that gets the RJ45 copper ports working in FreeBSD/OPNSense on the 1400/610 platform?

Thanks!

Hi there! When you open them up you have a couple micro switch push buttons near the RJ45 ports. You gotta push those buttons but here nobody really knows the order or how many times. You can find more information in this thread. Just to give a quick reply, but I can't really search right now. Later I will try to find it and edit this post or reply below.

 

[seb101]

Haha ok... The button furthest from the ports reboots the device, but nothing seems to change. The other button doesn't seem to do anything on it's own. I will try more combinations!

 

[oneplane]

There's VEP1400 and VEP1400-X basically. The non-X version has 'fake' ports, as in, handled by a marvel ethernet switch chip.

OpnSense can use them since it's FreeBSD based, OpenWRT can use them since it has a custom kernel to support those Marvel chips.

What you get as 'real' ports are the four on-SoC ports; two have 'real' external ports (the SFP ports) the other two are used as an uplink to to Marvel switch chip. You can see which is which as the media type for the 'internal' ports are -KR types (backplane ports) instead of SFP or Copper.

 

[nmpu]

Can you post a photo of the label on the bottom? While there was never a clear distinction made, this thread is pretty much exclusively 620/640/680 aka 1425/1445/1485. Support (firmware updates and tools) for other models requires an active subscription.

Do all the ports show up in the BIOS and/or Dell DiagOS?

 

[seb101]

Can you post a photo of the label on the bottom? While there was never a clear distinction made, this thread is pretty much exclusively 620/640/680 aka 1425/1445/1485. Support (firmware updates and tools) for other models requires an active subscription.

Do all the ports show up in the BIOS and/or Dell DiagOS?

Only the 4 ixgbe (X553) interfaces show up in the BIOS. I haven't tried DIAGOS - wasn't clear which version I need for the 1400.

I have no watchdog issues and can boot into OPNSense/OpenWRT ok, but I only ever see 4 ixgbe network interfaces. So I think this is the DSA switch 'issue' where the non SFP ports are behind a switch? Can this be fixed on the 1400/610?

Pressing any combination of the buttons has not changed this, sometimes it just reboots with 'BIOS initializing' but then still no ports, sometimes it gets stuck with an inactive console (have left for over 10 mins) and had to be power-cycled, sometimes it gives the following error and continually reboots until it does a self-inflicted factory reset.

smbusOneRead failed to setup the address at offset 0, error: SMB Busy, Transaction In Progress
Failed to get board infomation
smbusOneRead failed to setup the address at offset 0, error: SMB Busy, Transaction In Progress
smbusOneRead failed to setup the address at offset 14, error: SMB Busy, Transaction In Progress
Error! Failed to read CPLD register for BIOS SPI flash select.
DxE POST

POST Upper DRAM Memory test
  Short memory cell test

POST Upper DRAM Memory test ................. PASS
HDD Access .................................. PASS
smbusOneRead failed to setup the address at offset 0, error: SMB Busy, Transaction In Progress
Temperature test .................................. FAIL
EEPROM test ....................................... FAIL
        Ethernet Controller   4: 0: 0 ................................ FAIL
      Expected [8086:15C3], found [FFFF:FFFF]
        Ethernet Controller   4: 0: 1 ................................ FAIL
      Expected [8086:15C3], found [FFFF:FFFF]
POST PCI test ..................................... FAIL
POST NVRAM check ............................ PASS
Critical Devices Test ............................. FAIL
POST PCI test failure
Rebooting to attempt recovery of critical devices. Reboot count = 2

 

[redhot411]

Got fan control working under Proxmox. Leveraged the dn-diags-VEP1400-DiagOS-3.43.4.81-26-2022-12-08.deb and was able to use the tools included to control the fan.

Script and deb can be found at GitHub - mhannis/VEP14xx: Script for VEP14xx Fan Control in Debian

Enjoy!

 

[nmpu]

Got fan control working under Proxmox. Leveraged the dn-diags-VEP1400-DiagOS-3.43.4.81-26-2022-12-08.deb and was able to use the tools included to control the fan

What DiagOS utilities are actually required at this point?

Bonus points if you make the RGB LED track temperature.

Somebody would have to test this on a 610. I don't think a native DiagOS exists for that model?

I love it when I procrastinate long enough that somebody else does the work for me. Once everyone is satisfied with your functionality, I'll probably do the extra work to get rid of the DiagOS requirements.

 

[redhot411]

What DiagOS utilities are actually required at this point?

Bonus points if you make the RGB LED track temperature.

Somebody would have to test this on a 610. I don't think a native DiagOS exists for that model?

Not sure exactly all of what DiagOS' utilities are actually required because I let it install itself. My script ends up using fantool, i2ctool, nvramtool and the xml files. That deb file works for 610-680. I'll take a look at LED situation now and see what I can do.

 

[nmpu]

Somewhere in this thread I posted how to directly control the RGB LED.

i2cset -y 0 32 <red> <green> <blue> i

i2cget -y 0 32 0 i 3

where the 3 colors are bytes (0~255 decimal or 0x00~0xFF hex).