DaemonForums  

Go Back   DaemonForums > Miscellaneous > General Hardware

General Hardware General hardware related questions.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1   (View Single Post)  
Old 22nd July 2008
diw's Avatar
diw diw is offline
Port Guard
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 45
Default The great appliance hunt.

Greetings.

AFAICT there is a (large) hole in the market re the availability of appliances for hobby networking. Specifically networking that requires storage such as file serving, proxying, even mail. I have been looking for a couple of years and still can't find someone to send my money to.
Some sectors seem to be covered quite well. For instance, the wireless router choices are reasonable, Soekris and PC Engines.
It seems that anyone wanting HDD storage with simple, low power boards has few options.
Please let me know your suggestions. I want to use OpenBSD for NAS (SATA) and Firewalling (two ethernet).

Best wishes.
Reply With Quote
  #2   (View Single Post)  
Old 22nd July 2008
ai-danno's Avatar
ai-danno ai-danno is offline
Spam Deminer
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Boca Raton, Florida
Posts: 284
Default

Take a look at this post, and see if that doesn't help a bit. There aren't oodles and oodles of hardware vendors, but it isn't exactly a desert, either.
__________________
Network Firefighter
Reply With Quote
  #3   (View Single Post)  
Old 22nd July 2008
diw's Avatar
diw diw is offline
Port Guard
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 45
Default

Thanks ai-danno.

I had a fair read. Many items I knew of although some I didn't.
I could have gone out and bought a mini-ITX (for example) a long time ago.
It doesn't sit well with me to have an item sitting away doing a specific function with bells and whistles that are not associated.
I would rather buy a porsche without a radio than with one. Not that I could.

Anyway, it bothers me to buy an appliance with stuff that I see no use for.
I guess that what makes an appliance. A specific purpose piece of hardware.
If I bought something with an extra hole in the back I might wake up one night and smash it with a hammer. :]

Considering what I want it to do, I need HDD, preferably SATA.
Ethernet, gigabit not necessary, but must have 2 for firewalling. 3 is ok.
1 USB is nice. 1 serial also nice.

The closest items to what I want are NAS devices.
Actually there are many of them I would buy tomorrow except for one common feature. NAS devices generally have only one ethernet.
Other than that they are well suited. Generally lots of SATA, lots of USB, no other bells or whistles. Some even have serial.
For instance:
http://www.netgear.com/Products/Stor...adyNASDuo.aspx
There are very few NAS boxes in my price range (around $500) with two ethernet.
In fact the only ones I know of are ironically supported by OpenBSD. Thecus n2100 and n4100. Why don't I buy one? The construction is cheap.
Plastic cases, overheating problems.
This is kind of a last call for assistance.
If I can't find something better I will probably buy a Thecus n2100.
http://www.thecus.com/products_over....471591e39c5bf0

Perhaps someone knows of a suitable box that will give me an alternative.
I would be more than happy to buy a board and case it myself.

Best wishes.
Reply With Quote
  #4   (View Single Post)  
Old 23rd July 2008
ai-danno's Avatar
ai-danno ai-danno is offline
Spam Deminer
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Boca Raton, Florida
Posts: 284
Default

I guess go with the Thecus... for slightly more, you can build a fresh PC in mini-ATX form factor and stuff it with HD's that aren't hot-swappable. But then again, I guess that falls out of your conditions of it being a strict appliance.

I had discussed a similar topic in PM's with another member here- regarding OpenBSD in an applicance role. And he was right in what he told me- it will normally be the case that there are limited OpenBSD applicance-type hardware because the OBSD project itself doesn't collaborate with the hardware industry in development of said devices ahead of time, like FreeBSD or Linux does. It just isn't in the purview of the project.

It would be interesting to see if the Netgear MyBook line was able to boot OBSD... a cursory googling doesn't reveal that it's been done previously.
__________________
Network Firefighter
Reply With Quote
  #5   (View Single Post)  
Old 23rd July 2008
ocicat ocicat is offline
Administrator
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 3,318
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by ai-danno View Post
...it will normally be the case that there are limited OpenBSD applicance-type hardware because the OBSD project itself doesn't collaborate with the hardware industry in development of said devices ahead of time, like FreeBSD or Linux does. It just isn't in the purview of the project.
In general, this is a true statement, however when the focus is on file storage, OpenBSD offers unique support for the landisk:

http://openbsd.org/landisk.html

Urban legend has it that Theo wanted OpenBSD to run on a storage appliance. I have never bothered to look into this deeper.
Reply With Quote
  #6   (View Single Post)  
Old 23rd July 2008
ai-danno's Avatar
ai-danno ai-danno is offline
Spam Deminer
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Boca Raton, Florida
Posts: 284
Default

Ah very cool indeed!
__________________
Network Firefighter
Reply With Quote
  #7   (View Single Post)  
Old 23rd July 2008
tuck's Avatar
tuck tuck is offline
Shell Scout
 
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 99
Default

Thecus N2100 runs OpenBSD too. Unfortunately I own a dlink DNS-323 with no OpenBSD on it
Reply With Quote
  #8   (View Single Post)  
Old 23rd July 2008
dk_netsvil dk_netsvil is offline
Real Name: Devon
Fdisk Soldier
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: New York
Posts: 75
Default

I've got a Thecus N4100 and its running OpenBSD. Originally I had put together a proposal that called for a VIA epia-ex15000g and a pair of 750GB SATA drives. After looking at the costs of drive carriages I decided to go with the Thecus which would up costing about the same. I recommend keeping it in a cool place with plenty of air flow and having a second power supply on-hand.
Reply With Quote
  #9   (View Single Post)  
Old 23rd July 2008
BSDfan666 BSDfan666 is offline
Real Name: N/A, this is the interweb.
Banned
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 2,223
Default

Thecus N1200 is a PowerPC based, pretty cool stuff indeed.

http://openbsd.org/socppc.html
Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
hardware, nas, soekris, thecus

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
DIY OpenBSD Firewall Appliance mikesg OpenBSD Security 34 6th January 2010 06:17 AM
Great programmers answer a few questions drhowarddrfine Off-Topic 19 7th May 2009 05:21 PM
Great Forum! I smell potenial! marcolino Feedback and Suggestions 8 7th May 2008 07:49 PM


All times are GMT. The time now is 10:10 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Content copyright © 2007-2010, the authors
Daemon image copyright ©1988, Marshall Kirk McKusick