I'm working on a new pfSense build to replace a SuperMicro 1U D525 build (which of course, doesn't have AES-NI support and will therefore be incompatible with future pfSense releases).
I've decided on the SuperMicro SC505-203B as the case because of the front facing I/O. Comes with a PSU, which I may swap for the 160w Pico I have in the D525 right now (because it's 100% silent), and install a couple 40mm fans in there for airflow. Hard drive and RAM are easy; I'll find something and install 'em.
The real question is which board to get. I'm between 4 at the moment with the 1U form factor in mind (so it'll fit nicely in my enclosed wall rack in a closet). I'm very open to another suggestion as well; I'm not limited to these boards in any way. This is just what I've found. Also, if one of these pros or cons isn't actually a pro or con to you, please explain! It might help me decide and learn.
Board 1: SuperMicro X11SBA-LN4F (Pentium N3700)
Pros:
•Quad gigabit ethernet with dedicated IPMI interface
•Low price
•6w TDP chip
Potential Cons:
•Intel i210; I've heard the i3xx is better and should be the one to aim for over the i2xx because of queue handling and the potential for pfSense to take better advantage of that down the road
•No QuickAssist
•Installation problems - I'm sure many of you are familiar with this post on pfSense forums where 'Engineer' is working extremely hard to find a solution and runs into issues with board revisions that require a hardware fix.
Board 2: SuperMicro A1SRi-2558F (Atom C2558)
Pros:
•Quad gigabit ethernet with dedicated IPMI interface
•Intel i354 NIC
•QuickAssist
Potential Cons:
•C2000 series. As much as this board seems like it's used for pfSense builds all over the place, the fact that it has a potential time bomb of its life is concerning.
•Oldest of the 4 board chipsets here
Board 3: SuperMicro A2SDi-4C-HLN4F (Atom C3558)
Pros:
•Quad gigabit ethernet with dedicated IPMI interface
•QuickAssist
•New chip that doesn't seem to be affected by the C2000 bug
•Still keeping the heat relatively low with a 16w TDP, just 3w TDP higher than my rather toasty D525
Potential Cons:
•New C3000 based Intel network chipset (X553 I believe) which it sounds like the next version of pfSense will support, but not sure how stable this technology is right now. Thoughts appreciated.
•Rather pricy, but I'll put the money into it if it's worth it
Board 4: SuperMicro A2SDi-LN4F (Atom C3850)
Pros:
•Quad gigabit ethernet with dedicated IPMI interface
•QuickAssist
•New C3000 chip
•Well known i350 NIC
Potential Cons:
•Pricy
•Highest CPU TDP at 25w
Thanks for your time in advance everyone!
I've decided on the SuperMicro SC505-203B as the case because of the front facing I/O. Comes with a PSU, which I may swap for the 160w Pico I have in the D525 right now (because it's 100% silent), and install a couple 40mm fans in there for airflow. Hard drive and RAM are easy; I'll find something and install 'em.
The real question is which board to get. I'm between 4 at the moment with the 1U form factor in mind (so it'll fit nicely in my enclosed wall rack in a closet). I'm very open to another suggestion as well; I'm not limited to these boards in any way. This is just what I've found. Also, if one of these pros or cons isn't actually a pro or con to you, please explain! It might help me decide and learn.
Board 1: SuperMicro X11SBA-LN4F (Pentium N3700)
Pros:
•Quad gigabit ethernet with dedicated IPMI interface
•Low price
•6w TDP chip
Potential Cons:
•Intel i210; I've heard the i3xx is better and should be the one to aim for over the i2xx because of queue handling and the potential for pfSense to take better advantage of that down the road
•No QuickAssist
•Installation problems - I'm sure many of you are familiar with this post on pfSense forums where 'Engineer' is working extremely hard to find a solution and runs into issues with board revisions that require a hardware fix.
Board 2: SuperMicro A1SRi-2558F (Atom C2558)
Pros:
•Quad gigabit ethernet with dedicated IPMI interface
•Intel i354 NIC
•QuickAssist
Potential Cons:
•C2000 series. As much as this board seems like it's used for pfSense builds all over the place, the fact that it has a potential time bomb of its life is concerning.
•Oldest of the 4 board chipsets here
Board 3: SuperMicro A2SDi-4C-HLN4F (Atom C3558)
Pros:
•Quad gigabit ethernet with dedicated IPMI interface
•QuickAssist
•New chip that doesn't seem to be affected by the C2000 bug
•Still keeping the heat relatively low with a 16w TDP, just 3w TDP higher than my rather toasty D525
Potential Cons:
•New C3000 based Intel network chipset (X553 I believe) which it sounds like the next version of pfSense will support, but not sure how stable this technology is right now. Thoughts appreciated.
•Rather pricy, but I'll put the money into it if it's worth it
Board 4: SuperMicro A2SDi-LN4F (Atom C3850)
Pros:
•Quad gigabit ethernet with dedicated IPMI interface
•QuickAssist
•New C3000 chip
•Well known i350 NIC
Potential Cons:
•Pricy
•Highest CPU TDP at 25w
Thanks for your time in advance everyone!