OPNsense A10 Dual Core experiences?

[mkolenc]

Hi everyone,

I am interested in other people experiences using OPNsense hardware. I like the A10 dual core model, does any one else have it? How good is it?

I found out about OPNsense recently from monowall website, I like it so far!

Thx

[mkolenc]

bump. anyone??

[franco]

Hi there,

Sorry, I'm traveling at the moment and can't keep up with posts.

I have one A10 at home, and it's very quiet even though it does have a fan. It can cope with Proxy, VPN, IPS all in a row and the uptime is always maxing out between firmware upgrades, even when left alone for a few weeks. NICs are 4 x Intel e1000. The household does not complain about lack of network stability. I would say it's meant for bigger networks than what it's currently servicing.

As far as networking goes it's a superb solution and still quite fresh for a couple of years to come in terms of computing reserves.

Might take a bit of time for others to share their thoughts about the A10. Not everyone is browsing on a daily basis. Stay tuned.


Cheers,
Franco

[Alphabet Soup]

I bought the Quad Core version for my workplace, beefier than the Dual Core version but maybe my experience with it is helpful.  It has replaced more expensive competitor products as a multi-wan border router.  I learned about OPNsense from a post on PipeDot (http://pipedot.org/story/2015-02-17/end-of-the-m0n0wall-project).  When looking to replace some equipment that was approaching End-of-Support, I chose the A10 as I didn't want to be tweaking hardware while also figuring out how to configure OPNsense as an exact drop-in replacement for the EoS equipment.  I also hoped that some of the money spent on the A10 would make it's way over to the OPNsense side of the business.

Things I like about my A10:

• Price.  There are cheaper boxes, but the power-to-price ratio on the A10 is quite refreshing.
• Power (1).  My A10 handles a typical work day of constant 225~275Mbps throughput across 2,000 device clients, load average hovers around 1.0, Dashboard CPU usage hovers around 15%.
• Power (2).  20 Watts?  Nice.  Website for the Dual Core says 15 Watts.

So, for what I need it to do, my A10 handles it easily and I know I could fold more work into it should the need arise.  e.g. I already have an excellent traffic shaper, but were it to fail I would not hesitate to dummynet my A10 until it got fixed.

Things I don't like about my A10:

• Edit: Thanks for the head-smack, jschellevis!  I was wrong about this.  Console Port.  Their Gen3 appliances have a real serial console but the A10 series have this serial-to-USB thing that requires the client OS to have drivers.  Ironically, I cannot find drivers for FreeBSD.  If you never use the console port or use a driver-supported client OS, this won't bother you.
• External or Remote Power Control.  You can power off the A10 from inside OPNsense, but once done the only way to turn it on again is to pull the power cord and re-plug it.  No problem if it's on your desk, inconvenient if it's crammed in a rack.
• No Beep.  OPNsense can beep the PC oscillator upon successful startup/shutdown (System / Settings / Notifications) but either the A10 has no such speaker or it's too quiet for me to hear.  Some kind of clue that it's up would be nice, preferably a status LED.  There is a power LED and if that's off, you know the A10 is off.

That list of dislikes is not a particularly scary one.  The console port thing is the biggest problem for me, the others are mere inconveniences/nitpicks.

[jschellevis]

@Alphabet Soup

Thank you for your review!
Just one thing I would like to disagree on is the serial console though, let me explain:

Modern PC's and Laptops don't have a serial port anymore, that is why we have build it into the device.
As for drivers, you don't need any driver for Linux,Mac or FreeBSD.. only windows requires a driver and A10 models from 2014.

To connnect the device to FreeBSD, just plug in the USB cable and use screen.
When you are on another OPNsense box, you need to install screen first:

Code: [Select]

pkg install screen
Then do:

Code: [Select]

screen /dev/cuaU0 115200
thats all to it..

Perhaps this is useful information for you too :-)

[mkolenc]

Thank you everyone.

I went with APU, A10 was a bit expensive for me.