looking for gigabit network appliances

[Steve Polyack]

On 03/28/11 13:29, Paul Schenkeveld wrote:
> On Sun, Mar 27, 2011 at 10:04:11AM -0400, Maxim Khitrov wrote:
>> On Sun, Mar 27, 2011 at 9:16 AM, Paul Schenkeveld<freebsd at psconsult.nl>  wrote:
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> I've been happily using many Soekris network appliances for almost 10
>>> years now but Soekris is not in a big hurry to come with a gigabit
>>> platform :(
>>>
>>> So I am looking for for a decent network appliance platform to start
>>> replacing Soekris boxes. Â On my wish list are:
>>>
>>> Â - Can run FreeBSD>= 8.2 (i386 or amd64).
>>> Â - Models with 4 to 8 (or more) network interfaces, at least 4 gigabit
>>> Â  Â but all gigabit is better. Â Preferrably Intel em or igb chips.
>>> Â - Preferrably a choice of low power CPUs (Intel Atom D510/D525?) and
>>> Â  Â more powerful CPUs (Core 2/Xeon)
>>> Â - Bootable from flash or (SATA 2,5") SSD
>>> Â - 1U rackmount models available but preferrably also small passively
>>> Â  Â cooled desktop boxes.
>>> Â - Serial console preferrable over VGA console.
>>> Â - IPMI would be a plus but not absolutely required.
>>> Â - Distribution channel in Europe.
>>>
>>> Any ideas?
>>>
>>> Thanks in advance,
>>>
>>> Paul Schenkeveld
>> I spent the past few months looking for the same thing in US.
>> Unfortunately, I haven't found any existing devices that meet those
>> criteria. The Soekris net6501 [1] should be out some time this year,
>> as you may already know, but there has been very little information
>> about the time frame.
>>
>> In the end, I decided to build my own system, which would meet most of
>> your requirements. The components are listed below:
>>
>> Motherboard:  Supermicro X7SPA-HF-D525 (Atom D525)
>> Memory:       Crucial CT2KIT25664BC1067 (2x2GB DDR3 1066)
>> Network Card: Intel E1G44HT (4-port gigabit)
>> SSD:          OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD2-2VTXE60G
>> Enclosure:    Thermaltake Element Q VL52021N2U
>>
>> The final price for all components was ~$680.
> I've been looking at Supermicro too, that would solve the problem when
> no more that 6 interfaces are needed.  However I have a number of boxes
> with 7 (net4801+lan1741) or 8 (net5501+lan1741) interfaces in production
> and those are the first ones that need replacement.  Anyway, thanks for
> sharing your experience!
Axiomtek makes a handful of devices which might interest you.  Their 
NA-820 is a pretty solid platform for serial console, internal VGA 
headers, 7 Intel em(4) gigabit ethernet interfaces, and SATA support:
http://axiomtek.com/products/ViewProduct.asp?view=429

We haven't had any trouble with running FreeBSD on them.  I'm not sure 
about obtaining them in Europe, however.