Network/Roadmap/NewGateway

done

Melan and r3boot bought a new hypervisor (sporadic) which runs OPNsense.

Summary

We are in need of a faster Gateway. While our current Gateway (a Intel Pentium J4205 has an average passmark of 2442 (918 single) is more than powerful enough for our gigabit connection;

just a single wireguard connection can easily spike the CPU usage to around 70%. We also want a smaller case (1U) so that we can have more space left in the rack.

Notes

• an 11th gen Intel i3-1115G4 (6158 passmark, 2665 single) could easily do wireguard at ~2GB/s so ideally we want to get a system just as powerful or more powerful.
• one option would be to move wireguard to Erratic instead, however that means that a remote reboot of Erratic will kill all connections.
• Right now we have an UniFi Dream Machine Pro on loan to test if we like it.
• CPUs are compared using cpubenchmark.net, cpus should be faster than what we have now.

Needs

The following things are what our new gateway should definitely have:

• More than one nic (2 or more)
• Replaceable ram and storage
• 1U case (although for motherboards we can put together or own 1U case)
• Low power usage
• Intel NICs
• Minimal VGA output
• No locked down cloud bullshittery
• Ideally opnsense

Options

Bkhd 1U Server Intel Atom Quad Core C3558 6 Lan 2 Sfp + 10G

Link: https://nl.aliexpress.com/item/1005005238535931.html

Comes in a 1U case, can be configured with either a 4-core Intel C3558 (2417 passmark, 852 single) or a 8-core Intel C3758 (4750 passmark, 868 single). Has 6 lan ports and two SFP ports. See also https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3EMMYTdOYo

According to the Youtube video it idles around 20w and would spike up to 25w under load. (4-core version)

4-core price (w/8GB ram & 8GB eMMC): €502,27

8-core price (w/8GB ram & 8GB eMMC): €610,80

pros

• Comes as a 1U case
• Seems to come with a 12v Meanwell PSU build-in
• Lots of lan ports
• Has two SFP ports
• The 8-core is about twice as fast as our J4205 in multi-threading

cons

• Slower than than our J4205 single core wise.
• The 4-core version is slower
• China, so support could be icky (though we are a hackerspace)
• No video out, only console.
• Rather expensive. (Especially considering the performance)

Topton Intel I226 4x2.5G 11th gen i3-1115G4

Link: https://nl.aliexpress.com/item/1005005101103120.html

Configurable as Core i3-1115G4 (6158 passmark, 2665 single), Core i5-1135G7 (9939 passmark, 2709 single), i7-1165G7 (10378 passmark, 2846 single). Priced are €237,69, €393,10, €466,23.

Known to work nicely with proxmox and opnsense (I226 passthrough works without any issue). Also comes with a NVME slot and replaceable ram.

pros

• Good bang for buck.
• 4 lan ports, console port and video out.
• additional support for a 4/5G modem.
• Even the cheapest option has a faster single-core performance than our J4205 in multi
• Topton is a decent brand and their systems are often used for these applications.
• Has 4x2.5G nics

cons

• Runs a tad hot (imho - Melan)
• Not a rack mountable design, though system is fairly small itself.

Topton New Soft Router

Link: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006009250441.html?gatewayAdapt=glo2nld

A small mini-router that has a plectra of ports making it future proof, the default config is with 4x Intel 2.5gbe ports and it can be configured with either a extra 4 ports or 2 SFP+ ports. Meaning we could very easily plug-in directly from the XGPON. CPU wise, it has the following options:

Intel Core i3-8145U (3809 passmark, 2124 single) €354,78

Intel Core i5-10210u (6249, 2188 single) €423,76

Intel Core i7-10510U (6667, 2317 single) €443,46

Both the i5 and i7 are suiteable for our needs.

pros

• 2.5gbe and SFP+ makes it very future-proof
• Console port
• Topton
• i226v

cons

• Expensive
• Not a rack mountable design
• Highest 10th gen CPU is still very close to the 11th gen (even slower single core!?)

New R86S-N Mini Router

Link: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005792590190.html A even smaller router, that comes with a 3*2.5G ports and two 10G SFP+ ports as well as a 12th gen Alder Lake CPU. Configureable with either a Intel N100 or a Intel N305.

Intel N100 (5628, 1974 single) €442,63

Intel Core i3-N305 (10110, 2252 single) €623,02

pros

• 2.5gbe and SFP+ makes it very future-proof
• Small, low power consumption
• i226v
• Comes with 128GB MMC and 8GB ram, wi-fi 6

cons

• Very expensive for minimal peformance gain