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25 Gigabit Linux internet router PC build

michael.stapelberg.ch

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Re: 25 Gigabit Linux internet router PC build

#111

Post by tyingq »

sliken wrote: post #8

Was hoping for similar but 10 gbit. Anyone know a nice small/quiet linux box with 2x10 gbit for use as a router? I have a 8 port x 1gbit ubiquiti router, but ubiquiti seems to be going downhill, and 8 port x 10gbit routers are pretty expensive. My plan was a 2 port router and use vlan tagging to a 8+ port 10g switch. That way I can have separate networks for trusted ethernet, trusted wifi, untrusted ethernet, and unt…

I would go with a used SuperMicro A1SAI-2750F motherboard. It comes with an Atom 8-core C2750 (20w TDP) and a single 8 lane PCIe slot, but doesn't need active cooling. Supports ECC ram too. There's a passive heatsink on the CPU that works fine. I believe that would keep up with 2x10gb, be quiet, and power efficient.

They are $200 or so used on eBay. So not terribly expensive for something that can push 10g. And it will fit in any Mini-ITX case.

Don't be put off by the "Atom" branding. The C2750 was no slouch for its heyday.

Re: 25 Gigabit Linux internet router PC build

#113

Post by angrais »

mirekrusin wrote: post #91
ianai wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The machine's clearly massive overkill for routing. Another commenter points out it typically runs around 50w - and the OP says they're also using it as a server in this thread.

For developer like me, I'm actually considering this option, it would be great to have PC like this available for some docker stuff as well, ie. MSSQL instance for development (Azure MSSQL version that runs on M1 is shit slow to the point it's unusable for development). Maybe even some tests could be offloaded from dev machine to this one etc. Would be nice to have single place for backups, photo library etc.

Why not just use your development machine for development?

Also, why not use a remote server for deployment, testing, and building docker images? Most roles I have had offer such services (remote servers) as part of their costing so wouldn't cost you time, money, or effort.

I agree that having a single place to backup photos etc, is important. I use an external SSD for such a purpose as imo it's more useful to have it offline as I rarely add data and it is less likely to be comprised, e.g., it my machine was hacked.

Re: 25 Gigabit Linux internet router PC build

#114

Post by tzs »

iforgotpassword wrote: post #78
melling wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He claims one of his goals is to be power efficient “The PC consumes about 48W of power when idle (only management …” https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=97&t=3 “ How much electricity does an American home use? In 2019, the average annual electricity consumption for a U.S. residential utility customer was 10,649 kilowatthours (kWh), an average of about 877 kWh per month”

Ok so what am I missing here? In Germany a typical four person household is 2000kwh a year. Surely air conditioning can't make up for such a difference? Everybody already switched to electric cars?

That's about 170 kWh/month. I'm in the US and use around 450-500 kWh/month in the summer, which is my time of minimal use because it is warm enough to not need heating and usually not so warm as to need air conditioning.

I'm curious why such a big difference. Here's what I'm using in a household of one.

1. Kitchen appliances: Fridge, microwave, toaster, oven, dishwasher. The first three are used daily. The oven and dishwasher once per week. I'll also occasionally use a bread machine and an electric kettle, maybe a couple times a month.

2. Washing machine and dryer. 4-6 times per month.

3. A 2017 27" iMac, a Raspberry Pi 3, cable modem, TP-Link A7 router, and two TP-Link SG108E switches. A USB hub and a case for a couple external SSDs. An external monitor.

4. A 55" LCD TV which is used a couple hours a day, and an A/V receiver which is always on but usually idle. A couple streaming boxes (Fire Stick 4K, Xfinity Flex).

5. iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Surface Pro 4 chargers charging those devices.

6. Indoor lighting. It is almost all LED. The only exceptions are the lights in the fridge and dryer, one bulb each in the attic and crawl space that I forgot about when switching to LED.

7. An outdoor security light in back that is on overnight. I'm not sure about its power consumption, but these are typically under 100 W, which would be 24 kWh/month during the summer.

(I'm a bit puzzled by that light. I'm still using the same bulb that was there when I bought the house, giving the bulb on "on" time since I've owned it of around 56000 hours. That's quite a bit longer than expected for every kind of light bulb that I can think of that this might be. Only LED should approach that and definitely is not LED).

8. Well pump and water heater. The well pump runs maybe a couple times a day for maybe 5 minutes at a time, and would account for at most a few kWh/month. I know the water heater is a beast--but I think it only runs a little more frequently than once a day.

9. A couple box fans in windows at night to blow out hot air. They are 50 W each. Maybe 50 kWh/month.

10. Miscellaneous. Charger for rechargeable AA and AAA NiMH batteries. Electric toothbrush. A Google Home Mini as a kitchen timer. An Echo Dot to control lights. a Hue hub for the lights. Charger for the batteries for some cordless tools (drill, string trimmer, hedge trimmer) that are all used rarely.

Re: 25 Gigabit Linux internet router PC build

#115

Post by johndhowell »

j1elo wrote: post #4

I'm always amazed by people who don't bat an eye on the perspective of having a home server, sucking up electricity 24/7. In this case replacing a typical router (which consumes like a lightbulb), with a full-fledged PC (probably consuming like x100 the power). I guess some people around the world have quite cheap utility bills! For me, it's either a Raspberry Pi type of power consumption, or else a server that only…

I personally run two servers with a NAS 24/7 acting as media, ftp, and web server. My electric bill maybe increased a couple of dollars, but otherwise I haven't really noticed any significant increase. I'm based in the southern US

Re: 25 Gigabit Linux internet router PC build

#116

Post by tibbon »

j1elo wrote: post #4

I'm always amazed by people who don't bat an eye on the perspective of having a home server, sucking up electricity 24/7. In this case replacing a typical router (which consumes like a lightbulb), with a full-fledged PC (probably consuming like x100 the power). I guess some people around the world have quite cheap utility bills! For me, it's either a Raspberry Pi type of power consumption, or else a server that only…

I’ve got a handful of computers running in a rack at home. Their total power? Around 400w.

I also have a dehumidifier running all the time in the basement. It’s power usage is 500w.

No one bats and eye at a heater or dehumidifier, but a computer and people get worried

Re: 25 Gigabit Linux internet router PC build

#117

Post by stefan_ »

yakubin wrote: post #86
iforgotpassword wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> who don't bat an eye on the perspective of having a home server, sucking up electricity 24/7. Maybe they need it? A router isn't a home server. But even if, why do you keep your power efficient router running 24/7? You could turn it off when you're not home to save even more energy. > a full-fledged PC (probably consuming like x100 the power Maybe do some research before claims like these. He states this pc idles a…

> But even if, why do you keep your power efficient router running 24/7? You could turn it off when you're not home to save even more energy. You jest, but I turn off my router for the night and each time I leave home for more than a day. Not just router to be exact, everything that's connected to a power strip goes down, as I turn off all the power strips. (Not OP.)

Not a fan of the "turning the power strips off" method. Power supply failures are the number one reason why expensive electronics turn to bricks and subjecting them to the large inrush current that happens on the primary side every time you do the mechanical switch thing is a great way to significantly accelerate that process. Penny wise, pound foolish kind of thing.

Re: 25 Gigabit Linux internet router PC build

#118

Post by elric »

yakubin wrote: post #86
iforgotpassword wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> who don't bat an eye on the perspective of having a home server, sucking up electricity 24/7. Maybe they need it? A router isn't a home server. But even if, why do you keep your power efficient router running 24/7? You could turn it off when you're not home to save even more energy. > a full-fledged PC (probably consuming like x100 the power Maybe do some research before claims like these. He states this pc idles a…

> But even if, why do you keep your power efficient router running 24/7? You could turn it off when you're not home to save even more energy. You jest, but I turn off my router for the night and each time I leave home for more than a day. Not just router to be exact, everything that's connected to a power strip goes down, as I turn off all the power strips. (Not OP.)

I have physical switches on or near every outlet. Anything that's not actively being used gets turned off. With the exception of my oven and hob, because those are nearly impossible to reach. I use roughly 2kWh/day. This approach probably doesn't make much sense if you're using an order of magnitude more power. But it makes sense for me.

Re: 25 Gigabit Linux internet router PC build

#119

Post by elric »

83457 wrote: post #97
yakubin wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But even if, why do you keep your power efficient router running 24/7? You could turn it off when you're not home to save even more energy. You jest, but I turn off my router for the night and each time I leave home for more than a day. Not just router to be exact, everything that's connected to a power strip goes down, as I turn off all the power strips. (Not OP.)

Why not just go all in and shut off at breakers?

Breakers are not made for very frequent on/off cycles. They won't last as long as a light switch for instance. I've never seen a light switch wear out, but I have seen breakers wear out (at which point they trip very easily, and eventually seem to just permanently fail open).

Re: 25 Gigabit Linux internet router PC build

#120

Post by zrail »

iforgotpassword wrote: post #78
melling wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He claims one of his goals is to be power efficient “The PC consumes about 48W of power when idle (only management …” https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=97&t=3 “ How much electricity does an American home use? In 2019, the average annual electricity consumption for a U.S. residential utility customer was 10,649 kilowatthours (kWh), an average of about 877 kWh per month”

Ok so what am I missing here? In Germany a typical four person household is 2000kwh a year. Surely air conditioning can't make up for such a difference? Everybody already switched to electric cars?

My house is very atypical for my area of Michigan. It's all electric with a geothermal ground source heat pump for heating and cooling and electric water heaters. In addition it has (or rather had) two of these geothermal units and two water heaters for two separate spaces. We also have a plug-in hybrid vehicle that we charge at home.

Outdoor temperatures in the summer range from mid 70s F to low 100s F and humidity is almost always above 60%, hitting 90% for weeks at a time.

Our electric usage in all but the coldest months of the year is around 2200kwh per month. I expect this to go down somewhat because we just upgraded one of the geothermal units and replaced the other with a gas furnace and inverter AC unit.

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