Current Network

Technology Networking
1

Hello,

I have been following the discord and reddit pages for quite some time. All the users have been very helpful with all the random questions I have, my setup would not be how it is without this community. That being said, I wanted to share my current networking equipment.

Hardware:

pfSense router build:

  • AMD A6-7400k

  • Cryorig M9a

  • 4GB DDR3 1600

  • 120GB SSD

  • mATX Motherboard and Case

  • Intel I340-T4 Quad Port Gigabit Ethernet NIC

  • EVGA 430W PSU

unRAID server build:

  • Intel i5-8400

  • Cryorig M9i

  • MSI Z370A PRO Motherboard

  • 16GB DDR4 3000

  • Intel EXPI9301CTBLK Gigabit Ethernet NIC

  • LSI SAS9211-8I W/ 2 4x SATA Breakout Cables

  • 128GB NVME SSD

  • 2x 120GB SATA SSD

  • 3x 4TB HDD

  • 2x 1TB HDD

  • EVGA 550 G2 PSU

  • AMD R9-270X

Additional networking hardware:

  • CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD 1500VA/1000W UPS

  • NETGEAR ProSafe 16 Port Gigabit Desktop Switch GS116 V2

  • Netgear CM600 Cable Modem

  • Aumox 8 Port 120W Gigabit POE Switch SG308P

  • APC Back-UPS Connect BGE90M

  • Unifi UAP-AC-PRO Access Point

  • 2x Unifi USW Flex Mini 5 Port POE Powered Switch

  • Netgear AC1750 Backup Router/AP

Additional computer hardware:

  • Intel i7-8700k/GTX 1070 gaming desktop

  • Intel Celeron G3220/AMD 7750 backup desktop

  • Dell G7 W/ i7 8750H/GTX 1060 MaxQ gaming laptop

  • Dell laptop with semi-broken charger

  • Work laptop W/ i7 8750H/Quadro P1000

Background:

I have been slowly collecting computer hardware over the years, usually by upgrading my main desktop and keeping the spare parts that were not worth selling. I also worked at a store that allowed me to “recycle” used computer hardware so random CPUs and motherboards were acquired that way. I would also upgrade my main CPU through intel using a work related discount.

Through college I lived in an apartment and had a FreeNAS server for my main file storage. While this worked, I had no idea what I was doing most of the time and was afraid to do anything with it besides running an outdated PLEX server and storing files. When I moved to my current home, I upgraded to unRaid and have been using that throughout the year. I also got pfSense running on a spare desktop with a quad port NIC, and that has been working great for me. The UPS reports about 130-150W with a bit less than an hour runtime with the unRAID and pfSense computers running.

I’m currently in the transition period to wiring ethernet jacks around my house, including ceiling mounted boxes for AP mounting. With this, I will be running POE to the required ports and possibly cameras in the future. For my office, I have a POE cable running to my mini unifi switch, which is powered and provides 4 connections to my 2 desktops, work computer, and a printer. Also, I have the same POE switch setup in my living room with a Roku ultra, Nintendo Switch W/ USB ethernet adapter, and a Steam Link for game streaming to the TV.

On the unRAID side of things, I recently set up a Windows 10 VM for game streaming using an older R9-270x with GPU pass through, and 4 CPU cores (3 for windows, 1 for the VM). I’m currently still tested this and mostly use it with my steam link. My active docker containers include a mineos minecraft server, duck dns, letsencrypt, mariadb, nextcloud, ombi, plex, tautulli, and a unifi controller. Some of these applications were set up using Spaceinvader One’s guides, with nextcloud, plex, tatulli, mineos, and the unifi-controller accessible remotely. It’s nice to have the unifi controller running in unRAID so I don’t need a cloudkey, and pfSense eliminates the need for an underpowered USG or UDM (UniFi access points and switches are all I care about).

Wifi speeds have been great but I need additional AP’s to cover both floors of the house and outside. Also, I will eventually add POE cameras. The current unRAID and pfSense computers do the job, but I would like to downside the router and add more cores to unRAID, as well as rack mounting both systems. All networking hardware is covered from power outages with multiple UPS’s and can be powered off of a 12V 1000W sine wave inverter connectable to my car, so for long outages I have a full internet connection, which is good because verizon gets bogged down so mobile internet is almost useless. I need to add 2 additional UPS’s to my office and home theater system for more protection and power outage backup, as well as needing to add a whole home generator.

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