So I just registered, but I've been lurking for a while. Before I begin with the questions I'd like to thank all those who have contributed in the past. I've gotten quite a bit of good info!
A bit over a year ago I built a FreeNAS box based on advice I read here. Here's the build:
Supermicro A1SRM-C2550F-O
8GB Crucial ECC DDR3
Seasonic SSR-360GP (360 watt 80+ Gold)
3 Seagate 2TB NAS HDDs
This has been running perfect for a year now (it's a straight FreeNAS box, no jails). We have frequent power outages and it always starts right back up with no issues. I haven't had a single issue with data corruption, which was the reason I built it. I know I should get a battery backup, and that's in the cards soon. However, we are moving and I am going to be building out my network a little. To that end here are my questions:
I'm looking at building out a pfsense machine with a Supermicro C2X58 board (likely the A1SRM-LN7F-2358F-O, though the 2758 version for $140 more is interesting if I can USE the cores), how do I go about getting the 2.5GbE speeds out of the i354 adapter? Is it automatic? I'd like to at least have my FreeNAS machine running that speed to the pfsense machine (which will handle all traffic; no other switches). What other quality (intel?) adapters are advised (for the PCIe slot) to build out the rest of my network connections?
I've been looking at offsite backup options, and with the upcoming move one has presented itself. Would building a twin of my current box and putting it in place at another home (my parents) with something like BTSync running be a reasonable plan? It gives them a local backup that is also off-site'd automatically for the cost of hardware, bandwidth, and power. Seems to knock a few issues out at once (they could use the backup as well) but I may be missing something.
I've heard quite a bit about pfsense machines being unsuited (for security reasons) to running other applications. I want to run a few minor servers that I cannot justify the hardware for separately (gaming VOIP, webserver, etc.), so want to see about running them either on the FreeNAS or pfsense box. Looking for advice and options here. It just seems that to properly build out the pfsense machine I'm leaving a lot of capability sitting idle. I'm probably overspeccing the system, but I'd rather have idle capability and overspend than have issues, etc. and regret building it in the first place. I've been down that road in the past.
I appreciate the assistance!
A bit over a year ago I built a FreeNAS box based on advice I read here. Here's the build:
Supermicro A1SRM-C2550F-O
8GB Crucial ECC DDR3
Seasonic SSR-360GP (360 watt 80+ Gold)
3 Seagate 2TB NAS HDDs
This has been running perfect for a year now (it's a straight FreeNAS box, no jails). We have frequent power outages and it always starts right back up with no issues. I haven't had a single issue with data corruption, which was the reason I built it. I know I should get a battery backup, and that's in the cards soon. However, we are moving and I am going to be building out my network a little. To that end here are my questions:
I'm looking at building out a pfsense machine with a Supermicro C2X58 board (likely the A1SRM-LN7F-2358F-O, though the 2758 version for $140 more is interesting if I can USE the cores), how do I go about getting the 2.5GbE speeds out of the i354 adapter? Is it automatic? I'd like to at least have my FreeNAS machine running that speed to the pfsense machine (which will handle all traffic; no other switches). What other quality (intel?) adapters are advised (for the PCIe slot) to build out the rest of my network connections?
I've been looking at offsite backup options, and with the upcoming move one has presented itself. Would building a twin of my current box and putting it in place at another home (my parents) with something like BTSync running be a reasonable plan? It gives them a local backup that is also off-site'd automatically for the cost of hardware, bandwidth, and power. Seems to knock a few issues out at once (they could use the backup as well) but I may be missing something.
I've heard quite a bit about pfsense machines being unsuited (for security reasons) to running other applications. I want to run a few minor servers that I cannot justify the hardware for separately (gaming VOIP, webserver, etc.), so want to see about running them either on the FreeNAS or pfsense box. Looking for advice and options here. It just seems that to properly build out the pfsense machine I'm leaving a lot of capability sitting idle. I'm probably overspeccing the system, but I'd rather have idle capability and overspend than have issues, etc. and regret building it in the first place. I've been down that road in the past.
I appreciate the assistance!