Hi, im preparing to work on this project, looking into procuring the PCIe adapter and a 4-port RJ45 NIC. I plan to install proxmox and run install pfsense as a VM, and then have some additional cores available to play around in proxmox. Has anyone else gone this route or have any suggestion? Thanks!
100%! Look into the Intel I-350-T4. You'll also need to order the rear cover that fits it. I can't remember the part number off hand, but i'm pretty sure i've seen them on ebay. I added a dual SFP+ 10Gb nic to mine to compliment the rest of the 10Gb backbone at home. That combined with the local fiber internet makes for some excellent speeds. So far the M720q has been an excellent firewall. So far since the last reboot its been 320 days with zero issues.
Unfortunately I can’t get my hands on these…. It’s more than two years I’m trying to have them… for some Hypervisior as well but they are impossible to find and the one I do find are way too expensive
I tracked down an sff dell. It's mb has 2 pci slots, and I'm able to get in a 4 port ethernet @2.5 gbs each and a dual 10gb fiber card. 8 gbs of ram, and a xeon, install pfsense and I'm set.
I'm always comparing these solutions to the Espressobin, where the $70 or $130(with psu, case, and accessories) price and the IO throughput bests many other solutions.
That was me with the MochaBin-5G since I wanted the ability for 10Gbe (or upgradability). I guess in the end my reason for going the M720q route was mostly serviceable components.
@@cheako91155 I got mine for $150 shipped. At that point it's splitting hairs over $20-30. Also this is an option for people who may want to repurpose an M720q unit they already own. I'll be reviewing other platforms in the future, so stand by for more options!
@@cheako91155 Right, from ebay. Options are all over the place ranging from sub $100 with no storage drive, ram or processor (if you happen to have spare ram or an nvme), up to already loaded with a quad gigabit nic. If you already have a spare nic that makes it even better. I could be a bit desensitized since I have so many spare parts at hand. This one caught my eye without digging too deep... www.ebay.com/itm/325582549429?hash=item4bce3b71b5:g:8iYAAOSwSk5kGMCW&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA0AqVHApKaIyKJd0tr30Pe5M%2BAjy7I641sMuqcMlzUugaWse0pnBZrtUC3%2BjqJFFuU77KJezSV%2BJEYABVUNXjUnlfRBEzp330s9h8EwQny5bdCkQn0bWnb0s%2FMs9ZU%2F1yjGLtzC0n8H74App8BO1jlubxYxj3HXJAuTv8K9vWQZCIVW%2Fmwppe79wm5gw7nxln%2BbqtYDumCzNdi0k0in5jeA%2FgJD072xiaDtwhM0qC%2FYB4LSsI2n9IkXn1NRAKqMzOU89TA1BPZVxq1WXEoOQ6uWo%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR9yFgcDvYQ. Toss in a $25 nvme, sell or repurpose the regular ssd in it, throw in a spare dual gigabit nic or buy one for $15-20. Riser kit $30.. $170-ish total with 8gb ram and can still upgrade to 64gb if want the option for it to be a tiny hypervisor for VMs. If you hold out and wait better deals pop up. I waited a couple of weeks for the right one.
Actually this M720q was briefy running OPNsense for testing, but it's had pfSense on it now for about three months with no issues at all. It's been a perfect system!
I just started looking into building my own router and turning my wifi router into an ap. openwrt seems to be a good place to start. anyone run openwrt and pfsense on one of these and can give a comparison to driver compatibility and speed?
I've been running pfSense on this unit in the review and it's been nothing but perfection. Zero driver and stability issues. Current up time is 93 days. Speed is as good as you can get. Even though it's overkill, I have 4GB of ram dedicated to Squid cache as well as 2GB dedicated to RAM Disk. Couldn't recommend this unit more for pfSense
Thanks for the heads up, this is exactly what I've been looking for.
You just showed up in my feed recently. Pretty good videos. I dig it.
Built this exact system into my firewall/pi-hole box. Probably going to add Wireguard and a few other things to it as well
I really enjoy your videos, keep them coming!
Thank you for the feedback! Need to get some more new equipment in my hands ASAP!
Don't we all. I'd really like an R720 however, am happy I got my hands on an R430.@@Warning56kb
I have the M920Q version with the I5 8500T with 16gigs ram 256m.2, I put the dual SFP+ card in mine ! Runs OPNsense and very fast..
Which dual SFP+ card?
@@jimoquinn3827 Supermicro AOC-STGN-I2S Dual-port 10 Gigabit Ethernet Adapter FH Bracket
@@jimoquinn3827 Mellanox CX312A ConnectX works for me
This is quite overkill.. I'd suggest deploy a proxmox and do pci pass through with your sfp for opnsense and use other compute power for homelab!
I'm using a similar system as a k3s node. the SFF systems are pretty good
If you can add 2x i225 v3 via the m2 slots, could be useful for anything above 1gbs
Hi, im preparing to work on this project, looking into procuring the PCIe adapter and a 4-port RJ45 NIC.
I plan to install proxmox and run install pfsense as a VM, and then have some additional cores available to play around in proxmox. Has anyone else gone this route or have any suggestion?
Thanks!
100%! Look into the Intel I-350-T4. You'll also need to order the rear cover that fits it. I can't remember the part number off hand, but i'm pretty sure i've seen them on ebay. I added a dual SFP+ 10Gb nic to mine to compliment the rest of the 10Gb backbone at home. That combined with the local fiber internet makes for some excellent speeds. So far the M720q has been an excellent firewall. So far since the last reboot its been 320 days with zero issues.
Something along these lines will be my next project. I just need to quit spending money on spinning rust to built up my R710 unRAID box.
Unfortunately I can’t get my hands on these…. It’s more than two years I’m trying to have them… for some Hypervisior as well but they are impossible to find and the one I do find are way too expensive
Looks like there's one currently listed on Ebay that already has a 4 port NIC installed... shorturl.at/rADX7
@@Warning56kb does not ship to my location. Thanks.
I tracked down an sff dell. It's mb has 2 pci slots, and I'm able to get in a 4 port ethernet @2.5 gbs each and a dual 10gb fiber card. 8 gbs of ram, and a xeon, install pfsense and I'm set.
Nice! I was contemplating an OptiPlex 3070 Micro before landing on the M720q.
What model?
I'm always comparing these solutions to the Espressobin, where the $70 or $130(with psu, case, and accessories) price and the IO throughput bests many other solutions.
That was me with the MochaBin-5G since I wanted the ability for 10Gbe (or upgradability). I guess in the end my reason for going the M720q route was mostly serviceable components.
@@Warning56kb Seems like this is triple the price, but I don't see where it's triple the performance... sounds like a terrible deal at $199 or $250.
@@cheako91155 I got mine for $150 shipped. At that point it's splitting hairs over $20-30. Also this is an option for people who may want to repurpose an M720q unit they already own. I'll be reviewing other platforms in the future, so stand by for more options!
@@Warning56kb Now I'm interested. Was that from ebay or do you think I might be able 2 get 1?
@@cheako91155 Right, from ebay. Options are all over the place ranging from sub $100 with no storage drive, ram or processor (if you happen to have spare ram or an nvme), up to already loaded with a quad gigabit nic. If you already have a spare nic that makes it even better. I could be a bit desensitized since I have so many spare parts at hand. This one caught my eye without digging too deep... www.ebay.com/itm/325582549429?hash=item4bce3b71b5:g:8iYAAOSwSk5kGMCW&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA0AqVHApKaIyKJd0tr30Pe5M%2BAjy7I641sMuqcMlzUugaWse0pnBZrtUC3%2BjqJFFuU77KJezSV%2BJEYABVUNXjUnlfRBEzp330s9h8EwQny5bdCkQn0bWnb0s%2FMs9ZU%2F1yjGLtzC0n8H74App8BO1jlubxYxj3HXJAuTv8K9vWQZCIVW%2Fmwppe79wm5gw7nxln%2BbqtYDumCzNdi0k0in5jeA%2FgJD072xiaDtwhM0qC%2FYB4LSsI2n9IkXn1NRAKqMzOU89TA1BPZVxq1WXEoOQ6uWo%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR9yFgcDvYQ.
Toss in a $25 nvme, sell or repurpose the regular ssd in it, throw in a spare dual gigabit nic or buy one for $15-20. Riser kit $30.. $170-ish total with 8gb ram and can still upgrade to 64gb if want the option for it to be a tiny hypervisor for VMs. If you hold out and wait better deals pop up. I waited a couple of weeks for the right one.
Does this device support a '0 RPM mode' i.e., turning the fan off when the CPU temperature is low enough?
I'm not 100% certain, but I believe it does when in Silent mode. The fan is very, very quiet. Inaudible when in normal operation.
Have you ever used Zenarmor on pfSense or OPNSense? This seems like it'd be a perfect fit for that as well!
Actually this M720q was briefy running OPNsense for testing, but it's had pfSense on it now for about three months with no issues at all. It's been a perfect system!
Can you upgrade the integrated GPU to discredit? Using the pcle slot?
I have the 135w model
You can! Heat becomes a bit more of an issue, but it has been done. Ive seen thme functional with an RTX T600 as well as with an NVS 510.
@@Warning56kb Thanks dude! Will try it
Also makes for a good hackintosh.
I just started looking into building my own router and turning my wifi router into an ap. openwrt seems to be a good place to start. anyone run openwrt and pfsense on one of these and can give a comparison to driver compatibility and speed?
I've been running pfSense on this unit in the review and it's been nothing but perfection. Zero driver and stability issues. Current up time is 93 days. Speed is as good as you can get. Even though it's overkill, I have 4GB of ram dedicated to Squid cache as well as 2GB dedicated to RAM Disk. Couldn't recommend this unit more for pfSense
M720 near Q or far Q
Anyone got idle power consumption in watts for one of these bad boys?
This one stays around 9-10W idling while running pfsense.
@@Warning56kb would it be suitable to run as a proxmox server and then vurtualise pfsense in a VM?
@@gittin_funky Most definitely. The CPU options, RAM capacity and NVMe options make it more than capable virtualized.