OPNsense Forum
English Forums => General Discussion => Topic started by: FullyBorked on May 18, 2021, 03:46:25 pm
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My OPNSense box currently lives in a smallish desktop case. I'm running a Gigabit Micro-ATX mobo with a standard intel CPU cooler and an intel quad port full height NIC. I have a half height Broadcom card I could swap in as needed but like to stay away from Broadcom and linux/unix. I'm also not opposed to buying a smaller half height card if needed.
I'd like to move this hardware into a rack mount case. 1u would be preferred but because I want to stay as quiet as possible I'll most likely have to go 2u. But in my search I don't feel like there are many options available to me. Does anyone have any suggestions? Would really like some sort of front mount NIC's but that's also probably going to be hard to find.
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If you just want a rackmount case, Supermicro is the way to go, you may be able to find some cases en eBay on the cheap, but once you take into account the price of the case, motherboard and everything else it may end up being cheaper to buy a 1U server, if it is a full size server you can rearmount the switch so it's easier to move the connections.
1U won't be silent
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I have a Supermicro SC502L-200B 1U chassis (https://www.supermicro.com/en/products/chassis/1U/502/SC502L-200B), optimized for Intel Atom series platform. This is a half depth chassis, 9.8" (249 mm) into which I installed a Flex-ATX Supermicro motherboard: X7SPE-HF-D525 (https://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/ATOM/ICH9/X7SPE-HF-D525.cfm).
There are no fans involved in cooling the Atom CPU on the motherboard, and no chassis fans. The only fan is inside the PSU (PWS-202-1H (https://store.supermicro.com/200w-1u-pws-202-1h.html)).
I measured the noise level, using a free iPhone app (DecibelX), for 30 seconds; the average was 50.5 dB, min: 49.5 dB, max: 52.2 dB, peak: 56.8 dB. The iPhone's microphone was in the immediate proximity of the rear of the server.
I did test a fan-less PSU - obviously, all went 100% quiet, but some issues with powering off and on the server, made me to stick with the original PSU. Also fitting the PSU inside the chassis wasn't as straight forward as I thought.
The system is racked inside a small, wooden 6U cabinet, in the front room. The front door is always shut, the rear is open, facing a wall (the distance from the rear of the cabinet to the wall is about 10 cm / 4").
For me and my wife, the noise is not disturbing - we watch the TV, hardly noticing it, but when there is no other noise source, the noise coming from the fan is quite noticeable (luckily, apart from the cat, no one sleeps in this room).
The conclusion is that I am very happy with my OPNsense setup, and I would recommend the Supermicro chassis to anyone who wants a neat cabinet. I could take some pictures if anyone is interested.