Best Chipset For DIY Router?

[PeeR_SaBBi]

So, I own a rackmount server, with a switch, and an outdated router, along with a few other things, but I'm looking to take out the router, and build my own. What I'm wondering is, which lga 1150 chipset is better, I'll be running the embedded version of PFSense, along with a gigabit network card. I want as little overhead as possible while still keeping prices low.

 

[Epsilon_0EVP]

Better to skip LGA1150 altogether and go with an embedded solution. Asrock used to have some embedded Atom motherboards designed for servers, like this. That's about as good as it gets for this kind of application, with extreme low power consumption, and plenty of connectivity. It's also passively cooled, and it can probably fit in a 1U rack case if you're going that route. It is a bit more expensive than some other options, but it should be perfect for this kind of use.

For something even cheaper, you could try going with an AM1 setup. They are extremely cheap, with CPU's going for as little as $30 and motherboards another $30. They won't be designed with this use in mind, though, so I am not sure how well they will perform.

 

[PeeR_SaBBi]

Better to skip LGA1150 altogether and go with an embedded solution. Asrock used to have some embedded Atom motherboards designed for servers, like this. That's about as good as it gets for this kind of application, with extreme low power consumption, and plenty of connectivity. It's also passively cooled, and it can probably fit in a 1U rack case if you're going that route. It is a bit more expensive than some other options, but it should be perfect for this kind of use.

For something even cheaper, you could try going with an AM1 setup. They are extremely cheap, with CPU's going for as little as $30 and motherboards another $30. They won't be designed with this use in mind, though, so I am not sure how well they will perform.

I thought about that, but I ended up going against it, I want a budget of around 300-400 (before server rack and powersupply)

 

[Epsilon_0EVP]

I thought about that, but I ended up going against it, I want a budget of around 300-400 (before server rack and powersupply)

Fair enough. I assumed we wanted to go as cheap as possible. Do take into account that those prices do not include RAM, so the $200 Atom motherboards are actually quite close to your preferred budget.

This budget opens up a few more options. You can consider the Xeon-D integrated motherboards, which are again designed for actual server use, but are newer than the Atom boards I listed. You cold also consider stepping up to some of the low power Xeons, in which case a simple B85/Q85 should be more than enough.

I haven't set one up myself, but my understanding is that anything with two x86 cores is basically more than good enough for a pfSense router, so I really doubt you'll see any issues if you forgo the extra PCIe lanes or SATA storage on the higher end chipsets. If you want extra functionality, though, then you will want higher end hardware. For instance, if you want to virtualize a router and a NAS from the same box, you'll need a bit of extra power and SATA ports for the NAS system.

 

[scomil]

Better to skip LGA1150 altogether and go with an embedded solution. Asrock used to have some embedded Atom motherboards designed for servers, like this. That's about as good as it gets for this kind of application, with extreme low power consumption, and plenty of connectivity. It's also passively cooled, and it can probably fit in a 1U rack case if you're going that route. It is a bit more expensive than some other options, but it should be perfect for this kind of use.

For something even cheaper, you could try going with an AM1 setup. They are extremely cheap, with CPU's going for as little as $30 and motherboards another $30. They won't be designed with this use in mind, though, so I am not sure how well they will perform.

Hi Epsilon_0EVP,

I have pretty much identical needs as the OP. 1000/1000 cable running into my house. Synology NAS in basement. Would like to run all of our devices (1 NAS, 4 computers, 4 mobile phones, 3 Ipads) over OpenVPN - hence the need for a pfsense router which can handle the encryption loads (need 100/100 realistically). My idea is to set it up so that I have an OpenVPN client connected to my VPN provider and a OpenVPN server running so that I have access to my NAS and secure connection if I'm away from home. Please help me spec out the hardware I need in order to stick everything in a rack, preferably 1U.

Motherboard: AD2550R/U3S3

Please suggest a rack, power, memory, etc

Many thanks

 

[Epsilon_0EVP]

Hi Epsilon_0EVP,

I have pretty much identical needs as the OP. 1000/1000 cable running into my house. Synology NAS in basement. Would like to run all of our devices (1 NAS, 4 computers, 4 mobile phones, 3 Ipads) over OpenVPN - hence the need for a pfsense router which can handle the encryption loads (need 100/100 realistically). My idea is to set it up so that I have an OpenVPN client connected to my VPN provider and a OpenVPN server running so that I have access to my NAS and secure connection if I'm away from home. Please help me spec out the hardware I need in order to stick everything in a rack, preferably 1U.

Motherboard: AD2550R/U3S3

Please suggest a rack, power, memory, etc

Many thanks

The embedded motherboard you chose should have more than enough power to run pfSense, from what I know. From some quick reading, it should suffice for a home environment, even with a VPN. The fact that the motherboard also has dual Gigabit ports is great; you can possibly team them to get 2Gb/s to your switch/acess point, which should be more than enough to service most of your devices at 100Mb/s.

The system requirements for pfSense seem to be rather low for RAM, so even 4GB will probably be more than enough. I would recommend always using ECC RAM for a server, even with the added cost, for the extra peace of mind. Other than that, since it's had to get a bad stick of RAM nowadays, I'd just go with whatever is cheapest, or look through the official QVL for the motherboard if you want absolute certainty that it will work.

Unfortunately, I am not too knowledgeable on what the cheapest racks and 1U power supplies are, so I do not feel I could give you the best recommendations for that. In any case, I was going to mention that it would be better if you make a new post. That way you can get more opinions, and you also don't risk annoying the mods for reviving an older thread 😛