OK, is this a little ... extra? Would it work?

Started by tdalej, February 08, 2025, 01:54:53 PM

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February 08, 2025, 01:54:53 PM
Ramblings from someone who woke up in the middle of the night with this in his head ...

The Arista 7050S-52 switch (10GB ports) is out in the wild for just over $100 now.
The later 7050 family switches have at least 4GB of ram, and this model has a "built in SSD".
Arista EOS is based on Linux -- I have a 7050TX-64 (10GB and 40GB ports) that is on a 4.9 64bit kernel (and it's not on the latest version.)

Would it be possible to run OPNsense on Arista hardware?
Anyone tried it?


I have no idea what you'd do with that many ports, but at ~$100 - $150 ... 
February 08, 2025, 02:05:04 PM #1
It is questionable as to what CPU is in there. OpnSense usually runs on x64 only. Also, you do not know if it has BIOS or UEFI boot. Another big problem would be the network drivers - I bet that there is some switching fabric and not individual NICs on that.

And then, those machines draw 70 Watt at idle without anything connected to it. The price savings will not outweigh the high power draw, especially if you do not need that many ports.
Intel N100, 4 x I226-V, 16 GByte, 256 GByte NVME, ZTE F6005

1100 down / 770 up, Bufferbloat A
February 08, 2025, 04:44:47 PM #2
Also OPNsense does not support any switching silicon - contrary to e.g. OpenWRT which supports at least some.

That means in the best possible outcome OPnNsense is able to boot and sees all those interfaces but you end up having the CPU routing between all of them which will be slow as molasses.

Much more likely though - if it does boot at all - is that it will see just a single interface, namely the connection from the control plane to the switching fabric, and no way to control any aspect of the switch ports at all.

OPNsense is a router, not a switch.
Deciso DEC750
People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do. (Isaac Asimov)
February 08, 2025, 07:59:56 PM #3
Quote from: tdalej on February 08, 2025, 01:54:53 PMRamblings from someone who woke up in the middle of the night with this in his head ...
[...]

Better go back to sleep and sober up.

Cumulus Linux used to be the open-source solution for (certain) switches - look into it if you're feeling adventurous and need a little more frustration in your life. I don't know if the black hole of nVidia has swallowed it completely.
February 10, 2025, 04:58:58 PM #4
Closest answer so far -- I think I prefer just having another drink. 

QuoteBetter go back to sleep and sober up.
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