Inexpensive 2.5GB switch?

[rooted]

I can xfer at around 180Gb/s using block storage (iSCSI) but im unsure at this stage if it is a limitation of the network or the SSD being written to.

OT.. What is the benefit of using iSCSI vs other widely used protocols such as NFS?

[jovany]

Did a quick test between Windows -> Linux

Upload to H2+ @ 91Mb/s
Download from H2+ @ 83 Mb/s

The limiting factor here is encryption, in my case using:

File transfer protocol = SFTP-3
Cryptographic protocol = SSH-2
SSH implementation = OpenSSH_8.4p1 Debian-3
Encryption algorithm = AES-256 SDCTR (AES-NI accelerated)



I was able to improve transfer speeds slightly by enabling compression (as we effectively have less data to encrypt in this case).

In short we are limited by the slowest machines encryption for SFTP (which in your case is the H2)

I can xfer at around 180Gb/s using block storage (iSCSI) but im unsure at this stage if it is a limitation of the network or the SSD being written to.

@brad you can join into this discussion:
viewtopic.php?f=173&t=41861&p=322936#p322936

[brad]

I can xfer at around 180Gb/s using block storage (iSCSI) but im unsure at this stage if it is a limitation of the network or the SSD being written to.

OT.. What is the benefit of using iSCSI vs other widely used protocols such as NFS?

OT.. I think really they serve different purposes

- iSCISI - provides network block level storage (essentially a raw disk exposed over tcp/ip in this case). No filesystems just disk blocks and it is up to the client to manage it all. It is not a shared disk (in most cases) so only the client has access. Network needs to be trusted as we transferring disk blocks over tcp/ip.

- NFS / Samba - A Network based filesystem, The host runs a filesystem and exports it to the client. It can be shared with multiple users and both host and client have to deal with the details of the filesystems.

To try to answer the actual question .. iSCSI provides a raw disk to the client meaning the host does not have to do any housekeeping just send disk blocks over the network which in some cases might be considered a benefit and sometimes maybe not. Big downside of iSCSI is that it is not a filesystem and not shared so only 1 client can access it at a time unless special cluster filesystems are used. An iSCSI client is responsible for everything, including error checking.

EDIT: I see a typo I should have said 180Mb/s in my post above (not Gb/s)

[rooted]

Thanks @brad

[inotarobot]

Have been using the netcard and OPNSense now for around 1 week and everything is working nicely. It is now my main DHCP / DNS / router for all traffic. At the moment I only have 2x 2.5G devices connected (a windows machine and another H2+ acting as SAN/NAS. 3 other ports are operating at 1G.

I can push 1.9G through the router as it stands without issue but not quiet getting full 2.5G speeds. (It appears to be limitation of my windows machine an Intel i5-10500 with realtek 2.5G Ethernet). Will try to do some tuning at some stage to see if I can push it a little harder.

I found that if I enable power saving features in OPNSense and used adaptive mode it caused significant performance drop but the hiadaptive setting works nicely. Still considering if I would need to add a fan as it might be useful when the router is busy for extended periods of time or when I start to add in VPN links or ha proxy.

Hello Brad, I have found your post very informative.

One thing I hope you can clarify thats really Nagging me is last year I looked at using the H2+ with OPNSENSE but from the OPNSense forums and other online posting I got to understand that OPNsense core had moved to HARDENEDBSD and needed 64bit architecture to run. PLUS it did NOT work well with any network cards etc unless they used Intels network IC's (NICs).

I see that this H2 network cards NICS are also not Intel , being Realtek so that is confusing me.

Been looking at buying a 6 Port Protectli with an i7 8550u and 6 intel gigabit i210 NICs but at US$649 for home office its just too steep.

So thought of getting one of these a Fujitsu Intel I350-T4 Quad 1Gb Ethernet Adapter for Aus$97 and finding a cheap desktop to put it in.

I see the Odroid H2+ is out of stock and no estimate of delivery due to component supplier issues.

Note you are in Australia. I am in Melbourne and wonder if we can chat ?

regards
David
69yo industrial automation electronics engineer.

[brad]

Have been using the netcard and OPNSense now for around 1 week and everything is working nicely. It is now my main DHCP / DNS / router for all traffic. At the moment I only have 2x 2.5G devices connected (a windows machine and another H2+ acting as SAN/NAS. 3 other ports are operating at 1G.

I can push 1.9G through the router as it stands without issue but not quiet getting full 2.5G speeds. (It appears to be limitation of my windows machine an Intel i5-10500 with realtek 2.5G Ethernet). Will try to do some tuning at some stage to see if I can push it a little harder.

I found that if I enable power saving features in OPNSense and used adaptive mode it caused significant performance drop but the hiadaptive setting works nicely. Still considering if I would need to add a fan as it might be useful when the router is busy for extended periods of time or when I start to add in VPN links or ha proxy.

Hello Brad, I have found your post very informative.

One thing I hope you can clarify thats really Nagging me is last year I looked at using the H2+ with OPNSENSE but from the OPNSense forums and other online posting I got to understand that OPNsense core had moved to HARDENEDBSD and needed 64bit architecture to run. PLUS it did NOT work well with any network cards etc unless they used Intels network IC's (NICs).

I see that this H2 network cards NICS are also not Intel , being Realtek so that is confusing me.

Been looking at buying a 6 Port Protectli with an i7 8550u and 6 intel gigabit i210 NICs but at US$649 for home office its just too steep.

So thought of getting one of these a Fujitsu Intel I350-T4 Quad 1Gb Ethernet Adapter for Aus$97 and finding a cheap desktop to put it in.

I see the Odroid H2+ is out of stock and no estimate of delivery due to component supplier issues.

Note you are in Australia. I am in Melbourne and wonder if we can chat ?

regards
David
69yo industrial automation electronics engineer.

Hi David,
Yes opnsense is running a version of hardended BSD which appears to work well and has focus of hardening security which in my opinion is welcome for a device that is often exposed to untrusted networks.

The version I am currently running is OPNsense 21.1.3-amd64 which uses FreeBSD 12.1-RELEASE-p14-HBSD. It is beneficial running 64 bit OS due to the increased size of memory registers used especially when it comes to doing crypto operations (eg VPN or haproxy) or processing complex firewall rules.

I think some many years ago Realtek NIC's had some reported issues and bad reputation with lockups on BSD but have not experiences any issues so far. The realtek drivers seem much more mature these days. I see some people reporting intel nic's more power efficient or have slightly better performance but have not done any testing on this.

I think the Protectli would do better with crypto performance as it has faster cpu but the Odroid H2+ will outperform in bandwidth with the 2.5Gb NIC's (at a lower price). You can probably get away with an older machine as well and a Fujitsu quad port card but I think it will likely use more power and end up costing over time. I have a 4 port broadcom pci card that I did some testing with and it runs very hot when in use so I assume it is using more power.

Yes I'm in Victoria too, happy to discuss.

cheers,
Brad.

[domih]

Rejoice H2+ owners!

Finally we have sub-$200 5 or 8-port 2.5GbE switches and TRENDNet is the first to blink in this 2.5GbE switch overpriced market. Null doubt the other usual culprits will soon follow with models made out of the same factories in China.

Review: https://www.servethehome.com/trendnet-t ... ch-review/

The 5-port shows up on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/TRENDnet-TEG-S ... 3493514770
and Walmart: https://www.walmart.com/ip/TRENDnet-TEG ... /534371868

Nothing on NewEgg yet.

Both the 5 and 8-port show up on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/TRENDnet-2-5GBAS ... B08XWKF55C
https://www.amazon.com/TRENDnet-2-5GBAS ... B08XWK4HNT

These three instances are at MSRP or below, a rare occurrence these days!

Product page for the 8-port
https://www.trendnet.com/support/suppor ... 5_TEG-S380

CONCLUSION: You will find sub-$100 2.5GbE switches in 1+ year. It will be then the time for the networking manufacturers to rinse and repeat for 5GbE and 2+ years later for 10GbE. It's called "maximizing the opportunities to suck your hard won pesetas out of your wallet."

[domih]

Apparently there is also the 5-port Edimax GS-1005BE for our European brothers and sisters.

https://www.edimax.com/edimax/merchandi ... gs-1005be/

Example: https://www.proshop.dk/Switch/Edimax-5- ... ch/2928978 (about $123 wo tax)

[keil]

a review on youtube for TRENDnet devices ( H2+ with netcard also "compared" )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YetKfMcdZj4

[domih]

In reference to viewtopic.php?p=318648#p318648 by @lhb035

You can find this 8 x 2.5GbE port model on AliExpress: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001986084503.html for $162.

This model does NOT appear on Amazon, B&H, NewEgg, etc. It also does not appear on the English/International TP-Link web site.

As far as I could see it appears on the Chinese TP Link web site: https://translate.google.com/translate? ... _1775.html as the OP indicated (click page reload if the translation does not appear).

So I would venture this model is for the Chinese market only at this point. But if you want it, you can buy it from AliExpress. Note that the price is basically the same as the 8-ports TRENDNet. If you read Chinese and Tmall delivers to your country, Tmall sells it for ¥615 = $94.09 see https://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?spm=a ... 6511405469 (click on SH1008 to see the price)