Re: Buying recommendation for silent router/fileserver

On Fri, 2012-10-12 at 13:03:23 +0200, Hendrik Hasenbein wrote:
> On 12.10.2012 11:03, Ulrich Spörlein wrote:
> > On Thu, 2012-10-11 at 17:05:46 +0200, Rainer Duffner wrote:
> >> Am Thu, 11 Oct 2012 16:54:53 +0200
> >> schrieb Ulrich Spörlein <uqs_at_FreeBSD.org>:
> >>
> >>> Hey guys,
> >>>
> >>> I need to replace an aging Pentium IV system that has been serving as
> >>> my router, access point, file- and mediaserver for quite some time
> >>> now. The replacement should have:
> >>>
> >>> - amd64 CPU (for ZFS, obviously)
> >>> - 2x GigE (igress, egress interfaces)
> >>> - some form of wlan interface (I currently use an Atheros based PCI
> >>> card)
> >>> - eSATA for attaching a backup disk where I stream ZFS snapshots to
> >>> - serial port is always nice, for when I mess up an upgrade
> >>> - fan-less if possible
> >>>
> >>> So far, this here seems to fit the bill perfectly
> >>> http://www.fit-pc.com/web/fit-pc/intensepc/
> >>> but pricing seems to defy any reality.
> >>>
> >>> It does not state directly which chipsets are used for Wifi and
> >>> Ethernet, the block diagram claims Ethernet chips to be Intel 82579
> >>> and RTL8111D, but I don't trust that fully.
> >>>
> >>> For Wifi I can always fall back to sticking in a supported USB stick,
> >>> although that's kinda hacky.
> >>>
> >>> So how well is networking going to be supported by FreeBSD? Should I
> >>> just bite the bullet and find out?
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> What about the 
> >>
> >> HP ProLiant N40L
> >> ?
> >>
> >> It's not fanless, of course - but it's IMO more suited for a
> >> server-type system than anything else in that price-range.
> 
> It has a big fan which doesn't generate much noise. It is also decent
> looking in case you need to integrate it into a living room.

For longevity, I'd have a bit more confidence if this was an IvyBridge
system ... Now that FreeBSD somewhat supports the Intel HD graphics, I
might even slap on XBMC. And yes, living room + low noise is key, aka
Wife Acceptance Factor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wife_acceptance_factor)

> >> I don't have one (I have no need for anything beyond what an
> >> AlIX-system can do) - but if I would need a home-server, I'd buy a N40L
> >> (it can boot from USB and you can thus boot FreeNAS from it)
> > 
> > Interesting one, with only one GigE port though, both PCIe slots would
> > need to be populated to get a second Ethernet and a Wifi port ...
> 
> I don't think that would be a drawback unless you want to cramp in a
> second SSD (or more) into the 5.25" slot. Maybe there is a
> wireless/wired combo card, but I havent found one. The USB boot + SSD
> (zfs cache) + 4 disks is a nice storage solution.

Yeah, I was aiming for a 32GB SSD, with 8-16GB as UFS2 to boot from and
hold all the software, 16GB as ZIL or L2ARC or whatever it is called and
have an external 2TiB HDD (eSATA) for the GELI+ZFS volume. Another 2TiB
HDD (USB, usually detached/powered down, running ZFS with compression
and dedup) already exists and is receiving the ZFS snapshots from the
current 1TiB (ATA, internal) disk of the Pentium 4 system.

Cheers,
Uli