pfsense News - Page 2 of 4 - CNX Software

December 19, 2023December 20, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

iKOOLCORE R2 (Core i3-N300) system review – Part2: Proxmox VE, Ubuntu 22.04, pfSense

iKOOLCORE R2 Ubuntu Promox VE dual display

In the first part of iKOOLCORE R2 mini PC & router review, I had a look at the hardware with an unboxing and a teardown of the Intel Core i3-N300 Alder Lake-N computer and also noticed the device booted to a UEFI shell. So for the second part of the review, I will report my experience installing Proxmox VE on the iKOOLCORE R2 and setting up and using Ubuntu 22.04, pfSense 2.7.2, and OpenWrt 23.05 virtual machines, making sure I can still use a physical display, keyboard, and mouse with Ubuntu while pfSense firewall is running. As a side note, the previous generation iKOOLCORE R1 mini PC that was sent to Ian for review with Proxmox VE and various virtual machines preinstalled OpenWrt, Debian 11, and Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC set to Chinese language by default. As I understand it, iKOOLCORE still does that for the Chinese market, but not […]

October 25, 2023June 11, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

AOOSTAR R1 – An Intel N100 2-bay NAS, mini PC, and 2.5GbE router

AOOSTAR R1 Intel N100 mini PC triples as a 2-bay NAS thanks to two bays for 3.5-inch SATA drives and as a router through two 2.5GbE network interfaces. It’s a lower-cost version of the Ryzen 5-powered AOOSTAR N1 Pro that was introduced last June. It ships with up to 16GB DDR4 RAM, an optional 512 GB NVMe SSD, offers WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity, supports up to three displays via HDMI, DisplayPort and USB-C ports, and comes with five USB ports. AOOSTAR R1 (also called WTR R1) specifications: SoC – Intel Processor N100 quad-core Alder Lake-N processor @ up to 3.4 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB cache, 24EU Intel HD graphics @ 750 MHz; TDP: 6W System Memory – Optional 16GB DDR4-3200 via SO-DIMM socket Storage Optional 512GB M.2 2280 NVMe SSD 2-bay NAS compatible with 2.5-inch or 3.5-inch SATA drives MicroSD card slot Video Output 4Kp60 video output […]

September 30, 2023October 1, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

PALMSHELL NeXT H2 SBC and micro server offers 10GbE for $199 and up

Palmshell Next H2 10GbE 2.5GbE micro server

PALMSHELL NeXT H2 is an affordable AMD Ryzen Embedded R1505G-powered micro server, also available as an SBC for developers, that features two 10GbE SFP+ cages and one 2.5GbE RJ45 port, as well as expansion sockets for wireless connectivity. The system supports up to 32GB RAM plus an M.2 NVMe SSD and two SATA drives for storage, offers several wireless connectivity options with WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, and 4G LTE/5G, and is equipped with two 4Kp60-capable HDMI ports, and four USB ports. PALMSHELL NeXT H2 specifications: SoC – AMD Ryzen Embedded R1505G dual-core/quad-thread processor @ 2.4GHz up to 3.3GHz with AMD Radeon Vega 3 graphics; TDP set to 25W System Memory – Optional 8GB or 16GB DDR4 @ 2400 MT/s via 2x SO-DIMM slots Storage Optional 256GB or 512GB NVMe (PCIe 3.0) SSD via M.2 Key-N 2280 socket 2x SATA III connector MicroSD card socket Video Output – 2x HDMI […]

September 26, 2023September 26, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

ACEMAGIC S1 – A Processor N95 mini PC with a built-in LCD information display

ACEMAGIC S1 is a mini PC powered by an Intel Processor N95 Alder Lake-N processor whose main highlight is its LCD information display that shows CPU and memory usage, CPU temperature, fan speed, and other information, and works in both portrait and landscape modes. The mini PC also comes with 16GB RAM and an SSD with either 512GB or 1TB capacity, as well as two HDMI video outputs up to 4K resolution, two gigabit Ethernet ports, WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 wireless connectivity, and four USB ports. ACEMAGIC S1 specifications: SoC – Intel Processor N95 quad-core Alder Lake N-series processor @ up to 3.4 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB cache, 16EU Intel HD graphics @ 1.2 GHz; TDP: 15W (up to 20W) System Memory – 16GB RAM Storage – 512GB or 1TB “dual-channel” M.2 SATA+NVMe SSD (whatever that means) Video Output – 2x HDMI ports up to 4Kp60; dual independent display […]

August 9, 2023August 9, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Tiny mini PC with four 2.5Gbps Ethernet ports ships with Intel Processor N100/N200 or Core i3-N305 CPU

The “M1 Pocket Mini Soft Router” is a tiny Intel Alder Lake-N OEM mini PC with four 2.5Gbps Ethernet ports that is powered by a Processor N100, Processor N200, or Core i3-N305 CPU and sold by various brands such as Kingnovy or Tuofudun Topton. The pocket-sized computer comes with up to 16GB DDR5 memory, up to 1TB NVMe SSD, and features HDMI 2.0 and DisplayPort USB-C video outputs, two USB 3.0 ports, as well as a microSD card slot and a 3.5mm audio jack. M1 mini PC specifications: Alder Lake-N SoC Intel Processor N100 quad-core processor @ up to 3.4 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB cache, 24EU Intel UHD graphics; TDP: 6W Intel Processor N200 quad-core processor @ up to 3.7 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB cache, 32EU Intel HD graphics; TDP: 6W Intel Core i3-N305 octa-core processor @ up to 3.8 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB cache, 32EU Intel UHD Graphics; TDP: 15W […]

June 26, 2023June 26, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Intel soft router offers up to eight 2.5GbE ports, Comet Lake or Whiskey Lake Core processor

Topton is offering a soft router powered by an Intel Whiskey Lake or Comet Lake processor up to the Core i7-10510U quad-core/octa-thread processor with either eight 2.5GbE RJ45 ports or four 2.5GbE RJ45 ports and two 10GbE SFP+ cages. We’ve previously written about the low-cost InuoMicro G4305L8-S2 fanless industrial PC box with eight 2.5GbE interfaces, but it is powered by an Intel Celeron 4305UE dual-core Whiskey Lake processor, and the Topton model should offer more performance with a choice of 8th or 10th generation Intel Core i3/i5/i7 Whiskey Lake or Comet Lake SoC. Specifications: SoC (one or the other) Intel Core i3-8145UE dual-core Whiskey Lake processor up to 3.90 GHz with Intel UHD Graphics 620; 15W TDP Intel Core i5-10210U quad-core/eight-thread Comet Lake processor @ 1.6 GHz / 3.9 GHz (turbo all cores) / 4.2 GHz (turbo one core), 24EU Intel UHD graphics; 6MB Cache; 15W TDP Intel Core i7-10510U […]

May 16, 2023July 8, 2023 by Ian W MORRISON (Linuxium) - 56 Comments

Beelink EQ12 Review – An Intel Processor N100 mini PC tested with Windows 11, TrueNAS, pfSense, Ubuntu, and more

Beelink’s new EQ series of mini PCs form their base product range and feature low-powered Jasper Lake and Alder Lake-N processors with relatively basic port and memory/storage configurations. Perhaps more importantly, they are also the cheapest mini PCs they offer. Having recently announced the EQ12 mini PC featuring an Intel Processor N100 ‘Alder Lake-N’ CPU with up to 16GB RAM, Beelink have now sent one for review. Whilst I’ll cover the basic Windows operation and performance, I’ll also explore how this new mini PC performs when used as an integrated router and NAS. Beelink EQ12 specifications Beelink list the EQ12 specifications as: It is worth noting that the Processor N100 processor only supports a single memory channel and that according to Intel’s specification for the processor, the maximum memory supported is only 16 GB. Intel’s specification for the number of graphical execution units (EUs) also states 24 however software such […]

March 29, 2023 by Ian W MORRISON (Linuxium) - 9 Comments

iKOOLCORE R1 review – A quad 2.5GbE mini PC tested with Windows 11, Ubuntu 22.04, Proxmox

When I first saw the iKOOLCORE R1 I was fascinated that a mini PC of similar size to the smallest fully functional ones available (think Chuwi LarkBox, GMK NucBox or ECS LIVA Q Series) could be equipped with four 2.5 gigabit Ethernet (2.5GbE) ports. I approached iKOOLCORE who kindly provided an R1 for review and I’ve looked at performance running both Windows 11 and Ubuntu 22.04 and dabbled with using hypervisors on this mini PC through Proxmox virtual environment. iKOOLCORE R1 specifications iKOOLCORE list the R1 specifications on their website as: Of note are the ‘EC, FCC, RoHS’ certifications indicating both European conformity and approval for use in the US. Technically ‘EC’ refers to an ‘EC declaration of conformity’ which is not a certificate, however, the ‘EC declaration of conformity’ is called a ‘CE statement’ or ‘CE certificate’ which is why you often see this abbreviated as ‘CE’. The rest […]