Low power device to run 24/7?

H

HavocXphere

Honorary Master
Joined
Oct 19, 2007
Messages
33,153
Reaction score
1,297
Location
Europe
I'm looking for a device that can run 24/7 to do some downloading & perhaps act as a firewall/QoS.

Raspberry Pi would be ideal, but their website say 17 weeks till deliver. :sick:

HP Microserver is a bit of an overkill. Plus too expensive...cheaper to just run an existing PC 24/7.

Any other ideas on which device to use?

Also, to use it as a FW, I'd need to split ADSL modem & access point into 2 devices so that I can stick the FW device in between. Any advice on what to buy there?
 
You don't need to split the ADSL modem & AP into 2 devices. If you setup your DHCP server such that your FW becomes the default gateway, then you can limit/throttle all the Internet traffic.
The only thing that you can't do is to prevent people from dialing PPPoE accounts or from logging in on the web interface of the ADSL modem.

What OS do you intend to use for firewall & downloading?
 
Pada said:
You don't need to split the ADSL modem & AP into 2 devices. If you setup your DHCP server such that your FW becomes the default gateway, then you can limit/throttle all the Internet traffic.
Click to expand...
Ah clever.

In that case, whats the current favoured router? n standard, ADSL 2+, 4x ethernet type of deal.

Pada said:
The only thing that you can't do is to prevent people from dialing PPPoE accounts or from logging in on the web interface of the ADSL modem.
Click to expand...
Nobody except me will be using the setup, so its more a question of making bits & bytes behave rather than people.

Pada said:
What OS do you intend to use for firewall & downloading?
Click to expand...
Anything that can run FW, QoS and a CLI NNTP prog. Debian would be nice. Depending on the hardware perhaps Smoothwall etc since that might make the FW/QoS part easier.

Thanks Pada
 
I'd say get something zacate based like the e-350/e-450.
 
Your adsl modem should have a firewall built in.
 
ponder:
I'm a bit skeptical about running a firewall off an Android device. Is it at all possible to do that?

xumwun:
Very few ADSL modems include decent QoS schedulers. Most newer ADSL modems includes SPI (Stateful Packet Inspection) firewalls, but that is pretty much where it stops.

HavocXphere:
How are you going to attach your storage to this device? Do you have a NAS or do you want to connect it via USB?

I bought an HP Microserver @ R1200 and 4x 2TB Seagate low powered drives, because I didn't have a NAS yet and I wanted to run MikroTik RouterOS and a transparent proxy server to cache web content. Unfortunately the hard drives and HP Microservers are quite expensive at this point in time, and you can run a current PC for quite a long while before you're going to save by buying an HP Microserver instead. My colleague configured his HP Microserver to power down his hard drives when they're not in use for 15 minutes. He's also downloading his torrent into a RAM drive and only copying them over to the hard drive once the download is complete - so he barely switches on his hard drives.

Nowadays you get standalone routers (not ADSL modems as far as I know) that can do NNTP downloads, attach USB storage devices, etc. - but they are about just as much as an HP Microserver (~R2000).

Perhaps you can try to source a Rasberry Pi from someone who doesn't want it any more ;)
 
A soon as you go for an Intel Atom build, then you'll probably end up with it costing you roughly the same as an HP Microserver, because you still need RAM, HDD, PSU and a case! I went that route before I knew about the HP Microserver, and the CFi case that I had was terrible, because it could only fit 40mm fans and the passively cooled Intel D525 did require active cooling in that small case.

You can always have a look at the Intel D2500 Mini-ITX build: http://www.prophecy.co.za/intel-houlton-d2500hn-intel-atom-d2500-ddr3sodimm-miniitx-p-115651.html @ R652.08 (for the CPU + motherboard).
 
Thanks for all the responses people. I've looked through them...its seems they are all either in the Microserver price class or have similarly long lead times. e.g. The APC can't even be pre-ordered anymore.

Pada said:
How are you going to attach your storage to this device? Do you have a NAS or do you want to connect it via USB?
Click to expand...
Long term plan is a NAS. Short term plan is an external HDD - probably powered via USB hub.

Pada said:
I bought an HP Microserver
Click to expand...
I'd go that route too, but I'm burning through cash rather fast atm (renovations etc), so I'm a bit price sensitive.

Pada said:
you can run a current PC for quite a long while before you're going to save by buying an HP Microserver instead.
Click to expand...
That is perhaps the best option for now. I've check - a Microserver is about 1 year worth of desktop PC electricity bill.

How far can one push the electricity bill of a C2D down with underclocking & such? Can I run *nix without any gfx?

Thanks guys
 
I'd reckon that you can save quite a bit if you can let your hard drive power off when not in use after say 30 minutes + if you downclock and disable EIST (Intel Enhanced Speedstep Technology) on the CPU.
You'll probably save the most by letting your PC go into standby during the day if you're not home.

You should be able to run Linux without a graphics card present, but I haven't tried this.
 
I'd reckon that you can save quite a bit if you can let your hard drive power off when not in use after say 30 minutes + if you downclock and disable EIST (Intel Enhanced Speedstep Technology) on the CPU.
You'll probably save the most by letting your PC go into standby during the day if you're not home.

You should be able to run Linux without a graphics card present, but I haven't tried this.

I'm actually tempted to buy like a 16GB flash drive for like R150 and to let all my temporary downloads be stored on the flash drive and that only the final copies be copied onto my hard drive(s). I'd reckon I can save quite a bit by shutting down & using my 4x 2TB hard drives less - seeing that I'm pretty much just using them from like 20:00 - 01:00 on most days.

EDIT:
Ai. Seems like I'll have to run my OS from a flashdrive - like my colleague did it, because too many applications do stuff on the OS volume, and seeing that all 4x 2TB drives are in RAID, they are pretty much always active.
 
Last edited:
Order the pi now and before you know it the 17 weeks will be over.

Im going to order a few more. One media center, one firewall with ipfire and one a download server :)
 
Thanks Rouxenator!

That is one pretty awesome feature packed motherboard for its price!
4x SATA 3
2x USB 3 + 6x USB 2
HDMI + VGA (with DX11 support)
2x DDR3 slots
PCI-E 2 16x (@ 4x peed) slot
1Gbps LAN
Fan to cool the CPU heatsink!

You then still need RAM (say R251 for 1x 4GB), PSU (R175 for Thermaltake Litepower 350W), case and possibly a HDD - so you're again sitting at prices similar to the HP Microserver, but I suppose the performance is much better + you don't need a dedicated graphics card for 1080p videos!
 
Its way better than the HP microserver. Plus if you get a decent case like the CoolerMaster Elite 120 you can pretty much max out that board. I have two of these and I love them. If you want to come check it out and maybe run a few benchmarks on it you are welcome, just PM me.
 
gregmcc said:
Order the pi now and before you know it the 17 weeks will be over.
Click to expand...
17 weeks is a long time. :( I might just end up doing this anyway.

The RS page says the billing and delivery address must be the same. Is that actually enforced? Because that doesn't work for me (nobody at billing addr during the day). What if I use paypal instead?

Rouxenator said:
I can highly recommend the MSI E350IA : http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/154155-Pics-of-your-Rig!?p=8713615&viewfull=1#post8713615
Click to expand...
I'll keep that in mind when the time comes for a proper NAS. :)

Pada said:
I'd reckon that you can save quite a bit if you can let your hard drive power off when not in use after say 30 minutes
Click to expand...
Won't the constant power up & down nail the HDD? I've got some 40gb lying around, so it doesn't really matter, but curious nonetheless.

Pada said:
disable EIST (Intel Enhanced Speedstep Technology) on the CPU.
Click to expand...
Interesting. Never thought of speedstep like that. But makes sense...if everything is underclocked anyway then one doesn't want interference.

Pada said:
only the final copies be copied onto my hard drive(s).
Click to expand...
How do you trigger that? I can see some options processing stuff in sabnzd, but no place to put a command in?

Pada said:
Ai. Seems like I'll have to run my OS from a flashdrive - like my colleague did it, because too many applications do stuff on the OS volume
Click to expand...
ugh. As soon as the OS is on it, its a crap shoot with the flash lifespan.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X