New to OpnSense

[nitro]

Hi Everyone,

Im new to the PfSense/OpnSense project and I have ordered some parts that I assumed would just work and only now realised it might actually be good to check (although I'm fairly certain its fine). I have ordered below:

Supermicro SuperServer 5018A-FTN4
A1SRi-2758F motherboard with Intel Atom C2758 8 core CPU @ 2.40GHz
16GB (2 x 8GB) Kingston KVR16LSE11/8HB ECC RAM 1600MHz
C2000 SoC I354 Quad GbE Controller


Has anyone got any information that maybe useful regarding the above hardware? Should things "just work" or is there anything I should do in preparation?

Thanks

[bartjsmit]

Hi Nitro,

Welcome!

OPNsense is based on FreeBSD. Your first point of call should therefore be the HCL: https://www.freebsd.org/releases/11.1R/hardware.html

You can discuss more here, and on the FreeBSD list: https://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-hardware

At least your CPU has the AES-NI instruction set  8)

Bart...

[nitro]

Thanks Bart,

One concern is I do not see Intel Atom listed as supported? I know it works with PfSense however I cannot find anyone that has used atom with opnsense.

[bartjsmit]

x86 is x86 :-)

both the *senses are based on the same OS, so the CPU is likely to be the least troublesome.

Bart...

[elektroinside]

The bad: I have an Atom on my older setup, works, just the throughput with mine is a bit low (compared to the gigabit specs).
The good: you'll have the best throughput of all possible firewalls with OPNense. I tried most of them, including paid ones.

[nitro]

Thanks again Bart. I was confused why the documentation said x86 but then individually listed CPU models. It had me worried that atoms might have been missing a required feature set or something.


Elektroinside: Im fairly certain the 8 Core atom is overkill for my current setup (80mbit down 20mbit up) However in the near future I will be looking to jump over to something a bit faster (perhaps around the 300mbit range).

I do however want to make full use of the VPN,  IPS/IDS and Antivirus Scanning which I know will affect throughput.

I also would like to connect 2-3 wireless points around my property, are there any recommended wireless packages to go for? I have been looking at the Ubiquiti hardware.

[bartjsmit]

+1 for Ubiquiti - simply outstanding kit. You can run the unifi controller on OPNsense, but I prefer to keep functions separate

Bart...

[nitro]

Thanks to everyone for the support, I have got my OpnSense router/firewall up and running :)