Tech Support Forum banner
Status
Not open for further replies.

pfSense Custom Box Build

2K views 3 replies 2 participants last post by  gcavan 
#1 ·
Hi to all

I just got myself some hardware to build a custom pfSense box.

I got the following hardware

Mobo - Gigabyte GA-E2100N -
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00JVJLX2A/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Case - CiT MTX-007B - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00I9XP5L4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Apart from that i have 4 gb of ddr3 ram and an hdd.

All put together and work fine.

I could not find a good priced mitx mobo with dual nics so i got the above mentioned and tried to use a usb3 gigabit nic adaptor.. I am being told its not a good option.

i have installed pfsense and all works well even the usb3 nic card but im not sure about it just dont want to risk it.

This mobo has a standrard PIC slot not pice or pcix... apart from the issue with teh case as it does not have possibility to expand.. I would concider leaving the case top open no problem for that but i could not find a good card.. maybe there are some smaller cards, some converters, risers that i can use to connect a pci card gigabit adopter.

I can do a custom top for the case to fit in the card no problem this is not the issue i just need some advise to what cards i can fit in these slots if any newer cards will be backwards compatible and so on.

Thanks in advance
 
See less See more
#2 ·
No risk to using the USB nic. The issue is that your case supports only USB version 2.0, which may limit your bandwidth. (USB 2.0 max throughput = 480Mbps). This tends to only be an issue when transferring data within the local network, as very few consumers have internet up/down speeds in excess of about 100Mbps.

If this is an issue for you, your choices are thus:
1/ Replace the motherboard with a dual nic version.
2/ Replace the case with one which accepts an interface card, or one supporting USB 3.0.
3/ Use a Dremel tool to make some creative modifications to your existing case such that it will accept a PCI nic.

PS: PCI gigabit network cards are still widely available. If you go this route, look for one with a low-profile mounting bracket.
 
#4 ·
My bad. Was only looking at the case which has only USB 2.0. Did not note the motherboard has 2 x 3.0 ports.

USB 3.0 max (theoretical) throughput of 5Gbps. Will not bottleneck a Gigabit ethernet connection.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Top