Hardware recommendation for network appliance

J

jbo@

Developer
Can somebody recommend some piece of 1U or 2U 19" rack mount hardware which is suitable for a gateway/firewall?
I'm looking for something similar to SuperMicro E300-8D.
Unfortunately, SuperMicro stopped offering similar devices.

Main requirements:
- At least two 10 GbE ports (ideally RJ45, but SFP would work too)
- 1U or 2U 19" rack mountable
- x86 based
- Something enterprise/SME capable, not dodgy one-off products
- Able to run FreeBSD (including drivers for NICs)

Unfortunately I couldn't find anything really suitable. HPE ProLiant DL20 seems to be "the closest" but it's not exactly the most fitting for this application.
 
Take a look at what Netgate (pfSense) offers for hardware. It may give you an idea of what specs would work for you (I'm not suggesting purchase Netgate but rather their hardware runs FreeBSD)
ETA:
Disclaimer I have purchased Netgate devices with pfSense for home use. The hardware is pretty solid (of course more expensive that I'd like but not unreasonable), customer support has been solid and responsive, the community support (forums) lots of knowledgeable people involved.
 
get a refurbished dell 6x0 or hp dl360. they have ecc, ipmi, redundant psu and a truckload of cpu cores. you can kick out a cpu if not needed.
you may need to add a 10gbe dual nic. they are noisy though. there are also lots of spare parts available new and old. here i could probably get one with under $400 from a "professional refurbisher"
 
You might consider the Deciso DEC2700 series (https://shop.opnsense.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Brochure_DEC2752_70.pdf)

It has two SFP+ that can handle 10gbe. It uses the AMD Ryzen X86-64 processor. It comes pre-loaded with OPNsense, which is based on FreeBSD, so it can definitely run FreeBSD.

I have been using one of their smaller units, the DEC577. It is very well made and has been very reliable.

I would recommend being cautious if you get a used device. For a while, I was using Checkpoint 4600 devices from eBay to run OPNsense; they were inexpensive, were rackmount, and had eight network inputs. But all three of the ones I got eventually blew up their power supplys. One of them took out two power supplies. I looked at the Checkpoint website, and the end-of-life date was 2022. Relying on used equipment that is past its freshness date may not be a good way to go.
 
Just a word of advise running a rack server isn't cheap, I have a HP Proliant DL360P Gen8 and a HP 2920 Switch and its costing me around $100 a month in electricity, And they are loud!!! I would just get something like a TP-Link ER605
 
lgrant said:
You might consider the Deciso DEC2700 series (https://shop.opnsense.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Brochure_DEC2752_70.pdf)

It has two SFP+ that can handle 10gbe. It uses the AMD Ryzen X86-64 processor. It comes pre-loaded with OPNsense, which is based on FreeBSD, so it can definitely run FreeBSD.

I have been using one of their smaller units, the DEC577. It is very well made and has been very reliable.

I would recommend being cautious if you get a used device. For a while, I was using Checkpoint 4600 devices from eBay to run OPNsense; they were inexpensive, were rackmount, and had eight network inputs. But all three of the ones I got eventually blew up their power supplys. One of them took out two power supplies. I looked at the Checkpoint website, and the end-of-life date was 2022. Relying on used equipment that is past its freshness date may not be a good way to go.
Click to expand...

Don't buy off ebay, get re-certified from amazon, you can get there old networking equipment for cheap, and its generally reliable I have never had any issues I buy older stuff then resell with FreeBSD preinstalled and configured.
 
zester said:
Don't buy off ebay, get re-certified from amazon, you can get there old networking equipment for cheap, and its generally reliable I have never had any issues I buy older stuff then resell with FreeBSD preinstalled and configured.
Click to expand...
Another thing about buying off eBay is that I have had a couple of network devices arrive DOA. Since I live outside the U.S., it is not easy to return things, so I just consider them a write-off. But it limits how much I want to pay for something on eBay.

I don't know about re-certified gear from Amazon. Thanks for the lead; I will check into that.
 
lgrant said:
Since I live outside the U.S., it is not easy to return things, so I just consider them a write-off.
Click to expand...
I think this is something a lot of us forget: members from everywhere. I think the OP would have been enhanced by putting rough geographical area (NorthAmerica, SouthAmerica, Europe, etc).
 
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