How likely are Aliexpress Protectli-alternatives Coreboot-compatible? From a little research, I'm probably going to with a typical J4125 since it seems like a sweet spot for pfSense usage as a good power/performance. I looked at the N5100 which seems capable of lower power and higher power, the former being especially important since a server is idle for the most part. but for some reason the J4125 is far more popular. I guess N5105's infamous reputation of being perhaps too hot for a fanless is responsible?). Actually, I noticed that motherboards for the J4125 tend to have only 1 memory slot while N5105 motherboards provide 2 and apparently has no options for 2 ethernet ports, only 4+. I assume that means the N5100 will draw more power perhaps even on idle just because of the platform (can you disable/turn off an ethernet controller if you don't use the port)?
Anyway, it seems that some people are still having problems with the latest revision of the I225 ethernet controllers, so I'm looking at the I226 options for a J4125.
Is it entirely a gamble? I'm opened like 10 tabs and they all the same picture and product page; however, I see at least some sellers asking buyers to make specific requests that might be required such as what storage they want, so I'm wondering if there's more success that way. Any tips much appreciated.
It would be nice to get a managed L3 switch + the same hardware with Coreboot-compatibility and some change left vs. Protectli.
P.S. How well would a J4125 comfortably run Proxmox virtualizing pfSense (passthrough-capable for full perforamnce, right?), Home Assistant, maybe TrueNAS, and maybe Wireguard/VPN with under 300 Mbps encrypted traffic, while not severely bottlenecking a 1GbE plan? Hoping to replace my Pi.
Anyway, it seems that some people are still having problems with the latest revision of the I225 ethernet controllers, so I'm looking at the I226 options for a J4125.
Is it entirely a gamble? I'm opened like 10 tabs and they all the same picture and product page; however, I see at least some sellers asking buyers to make specific requests that might be required such as what storage they want, so I'm wondering if there's more success that way. Any tips much appreciated.
It would be nice to get a managed L3 switch + the same hardware with Coreboot-compatibility and some change left vs. Protectli.
P.S. How well would a J4125 comfortably run Proxmox virtualizing pfSense (passthrough-capable for full perforamnce, right?), Home Assistant, maybe TrueNAS, and maybe Wireguard/VPN with under 300 Mbps encrypted traffic, while not severely bottlenecking a 1GbE plan? Hoping to replace my Pi.