Prosumer Home Setup

[rifken2]

I want to beef up my home network backend.

About three months ago my wife gave me the go ahead to cut the cable and we use a freenas box to serve up local HD content, as well as stream a lot of video from the internet, to 4 XBMC boxes in the house.

I have killed quite a bit of equipment. I had a trendnet switch burn out, determined that my WHS box had bad RAM, and yesterday I killed my mini-itx DD-WRT router. Granted a lot of the equipment had some miles on them so it can be expected to nuke some of it based on the always on nature and always in use.

Our useage is that we have at any given point two devices streaming media at any given time. I also have a virtual server setup with at least two images running at any time with an active RDP connection from me. I have several databased running that use network as well. My wife is on the internet all the time with her iPhone and her laptop. She posts photos for clients and such. I play on xbox live when time permits. I typically have a VPN connection to the corp office about half the time as well. I also have night WHS backups taking place. I work from home about half the week and issues that drop me from the VPN are not acceptable if I plan to continue working from home.

I am looking for advice on a new setup at home to keep everything well-oiled. Before the router died yesterday most of the time, 95%, everything was smooth. Since replacing the hardware for the x86 DD-WRT router yesterday the network has stuttered several times, shows will stop stream, VPN will drop, internet goes down. Once this happens it usually hiccups for 30 seconds or so and doesn't seem to stop until I reboot DD-WRT. Then things settle down for quite a while.

My setup at home is a patch panel in the garage with 8 drops throughout the house. I have the house wired with Cat5e and everything runs fine at gigabit speeds. I had a Via EPIA mini-itx C800 board with 128MB of RAM running DD-WRT for the router with a PCI Intel NIC for the LAN port. That fed in to a TrendNet Green 8 port gigabit switch that fed in to the patch panel that ran to the rest of the house. The replacement DD-WRT router, for now, is an old HP 2GHz machine with 512MB of RAM. I replaced the bad TrendNet switch about 6 weeks ago with another of the same model. Part of the problem I am sure is the winters and summers in the garage are not easy on the equipment. This past week the temp in the garage got to around 24 degrees F. In the summer it can get up to 115 degrees F or more.

About 4 weeks ago my WHS decided to die on me so I replaced it with new hardware and use Freenas as the OS. This also allowed me to virtualize several other machines on to the new hardware.

I want to redo the network with better gear that can handle my setup without hiccuping. I have looked at build my own super router again using DD-WRT on an Intel Atom board with dual onboard Intel Gigabit Nics and feeding that in to the same TrendNet switch or even an upgraded switch. That option will likely run me $370 plus a new switch. But that allows me to continue to use DD-WRT with I know and like. Another option has been a RouterBoard 1100AH. It has 13 Gigabit ports built in to the unit plus it is its router, switch and router in one unit. It runs routerOS however and I don't know it. I played with the online demo last night it was not too bad but it isn't my DD-WRT... I could figure it out if need be. This option appears to be around $400.

tl,dr
My home setup consists of a router with DHCP and some port forwarding along with a ton of internal traffic. What would be a setup to make sure this setup has a 99%, or as close to that as possible, uptime, for around $400.

 

[arch113]

Using pfSense or Astaro instead of dd-wrt out of the question?

 

[rifken2]

Not out of the question... just not my comfort zone. I cut my teeth on astaro from back in the day... so it isn't a big deal, just not what I currently use...

I suppose I am mainly looking for hardware opinions for the backend... But certainly open to switching software if needed.

 

[arch113]

PfSense has a good QoS feature... It may help keep your VPN connection more stable when everyone is streaming/surfing at the same time, its based of FreeBSD just like FreeNAS.

 

[drebo]

Juniper SRX100B.

 

[NXIL]

Hi R2,

I have used DD WRT, and Tomato--and have not been real impressed with DD WRT of late--it has some instabilities, some hassles, and development seems a bit scattered and haphazard at present. From your note it looks like you have encountered some DD WRT bugs.

PfSense or Monowall look really good, and maybe would be more stable an reliable?

You do did not say what your internet speed is, but I am assuming it's not 100Mbps like in Korea.....

Once you decide on your software--you basically need a router, for $400 or less, that can handle a lot of traffic--nothing else running on that router? Just routing?

Your garage: Temps up to 115? Hot! Of course you have thought of this, but if you can, perhaps place new router in house/climate controlled area, and run cat5e or 6 cable out to switch in garage.

I just took a very quick look, but something like this might work well:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...r-_-16-101-364

Supermicro, dual NICs (both made by Intel), ready to go, about $350, free shipping. (OH: you need some ram......)

Install PFsense, Monowall, or one of the other routing softwares. DD WRT will work too if need be.

Of course you need UPS, but you know that......

If the router has to be left in your garage and heat tortured, there are industrial board--ubiquiti, routerboard? I have seen some built for high heat applications, but if you need that will have to use The Google.

HTH

 

[VirtualLarry]

tell me more about x86 DD-WRT. I didn't realize it was available.

 

[drebo]

If you're going to spend $100s on new hardware, why on Earth would you trust your shit to some open-source piece of crap based on iptables, when you could spend $100s on a brand new commercial-grade routing appliance with features that far, far, far exceed any linux-based routing platform, not to mention cost less to operate on a monthly basis?

 

[NXIL]

Hi Virtual Larry,

DD WRT x86 costs 20 Euros--about $25(US) as of today.

http://www.dd-wrt.com/shop/catalog/product_reviews_info.php?products_id=41&reviews_id=86

Here's the x86 forum, about 1/50th as active as the Broadcom forum.

http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=21&sid=0975d9ac43470e0f1541d7169961aa91

In fact, looking at it, it's not very active at all. Could be because if you buy the license you get direct DD WRT support from the developers, not forum support.

Opensource: I found Tomato to be 100% rock solid reliable--a fork of OpenWRT. I hear OpenWRT is good, but I have never used it.

And for OP, just one more radical thought to throw out there: Apple's Airport Extreme--just to use as a router.

I have read it has great throughput, is stable, good longevity. Sometimes the KISS principle does work, and sometimes a router is just a router.

 

[rifken2]

Thanks for the suggestions guys!

The reason I would continue to use DD-WRT is that I have it configured and it works for me. The setup I used worked fine for years but the hardware crapped out on me. I work from home enough that I want to ensure I can continue to do so with minimal fuss. I don't mind paying $400 for something that will work.

That said, I am not opposed to switching to an appliance in the least. What I am seeing however is that most of the appliances out there want to charge me a subscription based fee of some sort. I don't like that aspect.

What I would like to do is build a virtual based system of some sort and run pfSense or something like it in that virtual environment and then move my other virtual machines to this machine as well. I have speced out a consumer hardware based server that will allow me to do just that.

NXIL, I am based in Northwest Arkansas where the winters routinely drop below freezing and the summers can hit 104 degrees with 90%+ humidity, hense the 115 degrees in the enclosed garage. (the water heater is also in the garage which I am sure adds to the heat)

 

[NXIL]

Hi Rifkin,

quick question: what type of internet connection do you have? DSL, Cable, FIOS, T1, etc? And the speed? 2400 baud? 15/5?

And, to clarify: you need a router to go between the connection to the internet and the switch in your garage that distributes the bits?

Internet (cable or DSL modem or whatever) >>>>>
This Router you are pondering >>>>
switch >>>>>
Cat5e to all the clients

Is this the layout, in its simplest form, not considering the other things you want to do?

 

[NXIL]

Rifkin's inventory and needs:

Needs router, running DD WRT per experience and personal preference. If you have not done so, suggest you read the Peacock thread: Broadcom specific, but good advice in there:

http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=51486

In addition to router:

FreeNAS box, stream video to 4 XBMC boxes
WHS box: looks like it died and its functions moved to another box?
Virtual server, 2 images running, RDP (I would assume the RDP connection go via the switch, and not all the way back to the router)
Databases--running on virtual server?

iPhone, internet, laptop....so there is a wireless AP somewhere too--in the router? Or is there an AP out in house plugged into the wall via Ethernet port to switch?

Note:

My wife is on the internet all the time with her iPhone and her laptop. She posts photos for clients and such.

Also:

I typically have a VPN connection to the corp office about half the time as well. I also have night WHS backups taking place. I work from home about half the week and issues that drop me from the VPN are not acceptable if I plan to continue working from home.

I think these are key factors in your network setup: both you and your wife need this connection up and running so you can work! It needs to be Pro reliable!.

 

[NXIL]

I am based in Northwest Arkansas where the winters routinely drop below freezing and the summers can hit 104 degrees with 90%+ humidity, hence the 115 degrees in the enclosed garage. (the water heater is also in the garage which I am sure adds to the heat)

And I quote:

I have killed quite a bit of equipment. I had a trendnet switch burn out

in the Gobi desert like garage's climate?

yesterday I killed my mini-itx DD-WRT router

also in the garage from hell, where it does freeze over from time to time.

Maybe it's time to think outside the box, and move the router/switch gear out of the garage. It's too hostile an environment.

Or, if you really cannot, I think you need to look at military grade/industrial equipment, built for that type of hostile environment.

Having patch cables up to 30 feet, 10M, is generally not a problem, so, that gives you lots of places to move the router. You could also move the switch inside, and run patch cables from it to the wall panel in the garage.

And, since this is a business/work network and not just home entertainment: maybe move that patch panel into the house somewhere?

Assuming you itemize, it would be tax deductible.....

 

[rifken2]

I have a 25/5 cable connection.

All of the networking equipment that has gone bad has been located in the garage.

I do plan on moving the new router in to my office. I have a nice spot picked out for it.

Moving the switch inside is more problematic. I don't have a good location for it in the house. There really isn't a closet with power that would work well. The WAF drops if this is out in the open in the office. (My office is open to the living room and entry way) If push comes to shove I could do something here, but I think I might be able to find a switch that will survive the "extreme" conditions in the garage.

There is one AP at the moment in a central location in the house, plugged in to the switch in the garage, via an ethernet drop in the living room. This is how the iPhones, iPads, and laptops connect to the internet. The hardware is a wireless router with DHCP turned off and working as an AP.

The WHS server died a wonderful death and was relieved of duty. I lost several TB of non-critical data. Hense the move to FreeNas. WHS didn't warn me of the pending harddrive failures and when several drive began to drop out WHS just gave up the ghost so to speak. I moved everything over to FreeNas. I have three volumes:
1) 700GB mirror for documents, software images, code projects, and backups (databases, machine images, etc) and my virtual server vhd files.
2) 100 GB SSD volume for databases. This is for testing and development purposes. Backups are stored on the 700GB mirror
3) 11TB raidz1 for media, photos, etc.

I have a database running on mySQL on the Freenas box, not in a virtual machine that is in production but low usage, low overhead.

I also have two SQL Server 2008 databases running for testing and development purposes. Anything here is moved to a production server offsite when ready for prime time. These databases live on seperate virtual machines. Right now I have to manually fire up the virtual machines to make them available, can be a pain for my contract developers offsite. I would love to move these two machines to a host server that keeps them running 24/7. This is why I am looking a virtual server setup, I would love to dual purpose this new machine a virtual server that hosts a virtual instance of pfSense as well as my other virtual machines.

You are correct, the connection goes Cable Modem, Router, Switch, Cat5 patch panel, rest of the house.

 

[NXIL]

Router for extreme environment:

http://www.teldat.com/images/content/File/datasheets/a_t200g_ds_v2_4.pdf

8 10/100 ports (not GB....hmmmm)

But: can operate in temps up to 65 C, almost 150 degrees F

 

[NXIL]

Hostile environment switch:

http://www.lanstore.com/cp80.htm#copper

Only 10/100, not GB, but, only about $200 too.....

 

[NXIL]

25/5: awesome connection!

Router moved into office: that is great.

Switch out in Garage of the Sahara: if 10/100 speed enough, the ones about that are about $200 look like they will fit yours needs.

Wireless AP just works--

Rest of the gear just needs to be able to plug in and connect.

I love it when a plan comes together.

 

[NXIL]

8 gigabit ports.

Operating temp to 70C/158F

About $300

http://www.ethernetdirect.com/products_hug-800S.asp

 

[rifken2]

Ok... I am switching to pfSense. I have installed it in a virtual machine to play around with so I can become familiar with it before I implement it.

I have a question though. Since I am moving my router indoors in my office, I am losing two of the four ports in my office. I currently have one port for my desktop, one port for my Epson AIO printer, and two ports for my server. Instead of installing a switch for more ports, would it be possible to install two additional NICs in the router and use them as extra ports that work with the rest of my network. My thought process is that I would move my FreeNas server to these two ports that are built in to the router and everything would function just as before. (I currently have two NICs in my FreeNas box that are aggregated for load balance)

 

[NXIL]

Hi Rifken,

yes, that should work.

This Intel card would provide two ports:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833106015

If you have enough slots you can install single NIC cards but--don't go cheap--sorry. From doing some reading, it does seem the Intel NICs are best. Work with everything, reliable, etc.

Also--even though it will turn your setup into Skynet, having a regular switch connected directly to the router in the office, then having that router also connected to garage switch would work fine. I am always amazed at how well switches work. No firmware, no upgrades: plug them in and they work.

With two switches in parallel (not serial, or one behind the other), that should work fine, at full speeds.

Here is PFsense doc showing how to set up a network with a topology similar to yours:

http://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/Multi_WAN_/_Load_Balancing

Should work!

 

[NXIL]

From a Newegg user review of that Intel Dual NIC card:

m_jurrens
11/27/2011 7:55:40 AM
Tech Level: High
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
Verified Owner


5 out of 5 eggs Awesome network adapter!

Pros: Reliable, link aggregation(channel bonding), TCP segmentation offloading, jumbo frame support, low latency and high reliability. I have a pair of these and I actually experienced 99%+ real world sustained gigabit throughput on large file transfers on my windows home server using standard CAT 5e kinked up and thrown on the floor(I know right, so much for engineering and installation practices).

I also use this for my PFSense firewall box, one port goes to the WAN, and the other goes to my internal gigabit home network so that particular card gets it's workout supplying my connection to the internet day in and day out.

Cons: None other than it requires an open PCI express slot which are becoming more and more common. It's required though as 32 bit PCI would barely would the bandwidth. (sic)

Other Thoughts: Maybe a bit overkill for a home user, but even then I demand reliability and low latency and high throughput performance for the high traffic common nodes on my network. Everything a man could ask for, for a home, small business, enterprise network. I suspect these cards will last a very long time, and will be recycled into various machine builds until 10 Gb Ethernet becomes economical/common for the home user. Even then until disk/internet technology catches up there will not be a need.

 

[rifken2]

Thought I would provide a follow up...

I took an old Compaq AMD Sempron+ desktop and loaded it with 3 Intel dual port 10/100/1000 PCI-X cards in the three PCI slots. I picked up 6 cards, 3 for me and three for my friend, from ebay for $80 shipped. I built him a router using a 15 year old Compaq Deskpro EN pentium 733! I took the three PCI-X in the PCI slots no problem.

I loaded the machine with DD-WRT (tried pfSense and just didn't care for it... to much configuration for me...). The router sees all 6 ports and does not have an issue with routing. I moved the unit inside from the garage in to my office.

As for the switch, I was using the wrong power supply for it and it was causing the unit to flake out. I replaced the power supply with the unit specified and that appears to work as intended thus far.

So far, things are working well...

 

[drebo]

Great, so in less than one year, the money you've spent on power on this thing could have bought you a commercial routing appliance with more speed and better featureset.

Congrats?

 

[rifken2]

Wow.. Troll much?

The fact that I don't live in CA or another state with high electricity cost ensures that the operating costs are low. I also use a picopsu so it is high efficency. Also the pc I used was free so no expense there. I spent $40 on cards. The operating expense according to you will cost me what $260 in a year.