this post was submitted on 25 Feb 2024
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Another successful OpenBSD setup

I've been buying these little boxes from AliExpress for years to use as firewalls and routers. My oldest one is almost 9 years old now! OpenBSD installs just fine. Just a BIOS tweak to always boot up after power is restored.

@selfhosted #selfhosting #selfhosted #openbsd #runbsd

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[–] shyguyblue@lemmy.world 34 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Throw some hard drives on it and baby, you got a ~~stew~~ home media server goin!

[–] LiveLM@lemmy.zip 3 points 9 months ago (2 children)

How?
I've been thinking about setting up one of these cheap boxes as a NAS but I cannot ever find one with 4 Sata ports. Is there a solution for this?
I could use external USB Hard drives but that just feels so janky...

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[–] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 17 points 9 months ago (3 children)

I personally never understood the desire for BSD. BSD was good back in the day but we now have Linux which is better supported and protected under the GPL.

[–] Violet_McQuasional@feddit.uk 23 points 9 months ago (3 children)

PfSense and OPNsense are both killer router "out of the box" distros built on BSD. I say this as a Linux user, with little interest in running BSD for my applications, but... Respect to BSD. ✊

[–] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 4 points 9 months ago (2 children)

I run OpenWRT and it works pretty well. The only potential issue is the updates but if you have a plan it isn't a problem.

Maybe I'm missing out but from my perspective it is way cheaper to buy a off the shelf router with OpenWRT that can handle gigabit speeds than it is is to build/buy a entire computer that pulls way more power and is several times the cost.

[–] winky9827b@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

I recently installed OPNsense specifically because I had to buy a mini PC with 2.5 gig ports. There simply isn't anything reasonable on the market for the prosumer above the 1 gig threshold. Running splendidly on a Beelink EQ12.

Also, OPNsense has things OpenWRT doesn't offer (plugins, IPS, etc.)

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[–] SuperSynthia@lemmy.world 16 points 9 months ago (7 children)

So these noname boxes are good for making a hardware firewall/network?

[–] Cornelius_Wangenheim@lemmy.world 12 points 9 months ago

Yeah, as long as it it's one with 2+ network ports. I use a little 4 port with pfsense loaded on it for my home network.

[–] floofloof@lemmy.ca 8 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

I use one with 6 LAN ports and a fanless 10th gen i5 running OPNsense, and it has worked well for years. It runs many services including Unbound DNS and Suricata with capacity to spare. It's much better than any consumer router, though I run WiFi separately with an Asus AI Mesh set to AP mode.

The only concerns are that you don't get BIOS updates, and you don't know for sure that there's nothing nasty in the firmware. But then you don't really know that on consumer routers either.

[–] fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.world 7 points 9 months ago

I've been running one for the past 6+ months with no issues.

[–] towerful@programming.dev 3 points 9 months ago

Mine died after 2 years after a power cut.
I havent tried to debug it yet. At the time, it would power on but a monitor didnt see anything from the video port, and it didnt seem to actually boot.
I presume it is toast.

If you dont need compact, a rebfurbed SFF with a 4 port network card is gonna be cheaper

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[–] madcaesar@lemmy.world 16 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Sorry for my ignorance I tried googling but what is this exactly? A server for files or? A media server?

[–] rhys@mastodon.rhys.wtf 13 points 9 months ago

@madcaesar @otl It's a small server running OpenBSD, configured to operate as a router and/or firewall.

Linux and the *BSDs can operate as very good routers and firewalls, usually being much more configurable and enabling you to do more complex than off-the-shelf consumer-level hardware routers. Using them on a small form factor computer with a cheap switch in front of them can give you a better performing and nicer to use alternative.

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[–] Da_Boom@iusearchlinux.fyi 15 points 9 months ago (2 children)

I recognise that internet router on the right. That looks like the "smart router" Telstra gives their customers - we have one we used to use back when we had Telstra cable. It's currently playing the duty of an Ethernet switch for dad's office.

[–] otl@hachyderm.io 5 points 9 months ago

Good eyes! Yes this is one we got from Telstra on a VDSL NBN connection. Now it’s just a modem in bridge mode with Aussie Broadband

@selfhosted @Da_Boom

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[–] cmnybo@discuss.tchncs.de 15 points 9 months ago (5 children)

Do any of those cheap Chinese computers ever get any firmware or bios updates?

[–] const_void@lemmy.ml 31 points 9 months ago (1 children)

No and they don't provide the source either. Makes you wonder what's running in there.

[–] StopSpazzing@lemmy.world 21 points 9 months ago (1 children)

While i agree, no one provides full source blobs for firmware and bios that i am aware of. Please correct me if I am wrong, however.

[–] const_void@lemmy.ml 3 points 9 months ago (2 children)
[–] StopSpazzing@lemmy.world 11 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Open source bios yes, but you still have close source firmware blobs for amd/intel used on those systems. The only way to do this is to make 100% of the hardware.

Also please note, I am using coreboot already on my pcengines router.

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[–] Bitflip@lemmy.ml 14 points 9 months ago

I'd be surprised if it wasn't just based off the UEFI sdk examples containing 30+ CVEs over the last couple of years. If anything, it won't get patched for logofail and all the others UEFI exploits we'll definitely see in the coming years.

[–] scrion@lemmy.world 7 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

I was wondering... that tp-link probably negates anything remotely resembling security on its own. But yeah, you can update some of these noname boxes easily, others, not so much.

I have dealt with (in a professional capacity) Chinese manufacturers that are under the impression they do not have to provide a working build tree for the kernel, let alone firmware, so its a gamble if you're not talking to a major Chinese name brand. Mind you, I was ordering hundreds of those boxes, so there was some leverage.

[–] MigratingtoLemmy@lemmy.world 15 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (2 children)

That TP-link is a dumb switch. Unless you're telling me that someone is going to find an opening in the firmware and hack their way into the ARP table or something (in which case the threat model here just became state actors and I don't think the OP is safe with this equipment), I don't think it affects much, if anything.

Now, if I'm mistaken and that is actually a managed switch; god help them with network security.

[–] Link@rentadrunk.org 8 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (6 children)

It is a managed switch. What’s wrong with TP-Link managed switches?

I have a basic Netgear managed switch for VLANs.

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[–] scrion@lemmy.world 6 points 9 months ago (2 children)

They do make managed switches, but just to be completely clear, my comment was mostly hyperbole. I just found the general combination of security - mindedness and cheap Chinese hardware curious / amusing.

[–] MigratingtoLemmy@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago

I did realise that, and apologies for my tone earlier.

With that said, this seems to be a slight bias - unless the PCB has some nefarious spy-chip built inside, hardware is hardware, regardless of where it comes from.

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[–] otl@hachyderm.io 7 points 9 months ago (1 children)

None that I know of :(
But @benjja tells me that on some of these you can install coreboot: https://ohnepunktundkomma.org/@benjja/111991771619601081

Something I’m keen to look into.

@cmnybo @selfhosted

[–] benjja@ohnepunktundkomma.org 3 points 9 months ago

@otl @cmnybo @selfhosted

Protectli ported coreboot for their hardware, and with a little research you can find this hardware on aliexpress, of course under a different name.

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[–] Decronym@lemmy.decronym.xyz 11 points 9 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I've seen in this thread:

Fewer Letters More Letters
AP WiFi Access Point
DNS Domain Name Service/System
NAS Network-Attached Storage
SATA Serial AT Attachment interface for mass storage
SSL Secure Sockets Layer, for transparent encryption
TLS Transport Layer Security, supersedes SSL

5 acronyms in this thread; the most compressed thread commented on today has 9 acronyms.

[Thread #543 for this sub, first seen 25th Feb 2024, 15:45] [FAQ] [Full list] [Contact] [Source code]

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[–] StopSpazzing@lemmy.world 11 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Any cheap 2x 2.5gb n100 ones yet?

[–] Daughter3546@lemmy.world 14 points 9 months ago

There are a few 5x 2.5g N100 for $120-130 USD range on AliExpress. I grabbed one a while back for my own network.

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[–] wernsting@lemm.ee 7 points 9 months ago (2 children)

What bios tweak do you apply? That’s the one thing I still need to do.

These things are awesome!

[–] ryannathans@aussie.zone 6 points 9 months ago

Restore power status after AC loss

[–] Landless2029@lemmy.world 4 points 9 months ago

Basically auto power on after restore power.

Meaning if you get unplugged (or power outage) turn back on like any other networking gear.

[–] Smc87@lemmy.sdf.org 6 points 9 months ago (3 children)
[–] vext01@lemmy.sdf.org 5 points 9 months ago
[–] otl@hachyderm.io 5 points 9 months ago

Because blinking lights give me goo goo ga ga

@Smc87 @selfhosted

[–] ugh@lemm.ee 3 points 9 months ago

I'm glad to see that we're not all addicts here

[–] alvaro@social.graves.cl 5 points 9 months ago (1 children)
[–] otl@hachyderm.io 4 points 9 months ago (1 children)

This one: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003378019857.html

Halfway through writing a follow-up blog post detailing set up, internals, etc. Should be available soon if you’re interested :)

@alvaro @selfhosted

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[–] tk@f.kawa-kun.com 5 points 9 months ago (1 children)
[–] otl@hachyderm.io 4 points 9 months ago

This one has an old Intel N2830:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003378019857.html
With this particular model you can get a newer N100 chip

@selfhosted @tk

[–] fmstrat@lemmy.nowsci.com 5 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I have one of these with PFSense on it. Works great, but when I had it in a hot room I had to zip tie a 120mm fan to it 😀

[–] winky9827b@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

I bought some half-inch silicone feet to separate mine from the shelf it sits on. The added airflow underneath seems to do just fine.

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[–] jjlinux@lemmy.ml 3 points 9 months ago (3 children)

6 VLANs, 2 ISPs on load Balancing and FailOver, 6 switches, 7 APs.

The sky's the limit

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[–] 7Sea_Sailor@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 9 months ago (3 children)

Ive wanted one of these for a while to replace my ISPs modem+router+switch+wifi-AP. But apparently these devices can be funky to get a good wifi going, and I don't feel like adding three (mini pc, switch, AP) new devices to my "we don't talk about it" corner where all the IT is stored. Do you know anything about wifi on these?

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