TLDR; looking to combine Lenovo ThinkCentre M720q with a Mellanox dual 10Gbps SFP+ PCIe card to create my dream homelab router/firewall

Hi,

I’m looking to set up a router/firewall for my home network, behind my ISP’s router.

Here’s my current setup :

  • ISP Router : 1xSFP+ 10Gbps, 4xRJ45 1Gbps, used as a (temporary) NAS

  • Switch : 1xSFP+ 10Gbps, 3xRJ45 2.5Gbps, 8xRJ45 1Gbps

  • Proxmox Host : RJ45 2.5Gbps

  • 3 laptops, IoT devices, …

I’m looking to insert this new device in-between the existing router and the switch, meaning it has to have dual SFP+ to be able to uplink and downlink at 10Gbps. It’s a bit overkill but it means I’ll be fully utilizing my ISP box and my switch to their full potential, with some headroom.

I’ve looked around and found nothing that checks all boxes, while trying to keep this under budget (~300€ max). I’ve finally landed on a frankenstein combination but I wanted to verify that the parts all are compatible and that I wouldn’t have any nasty surprises when everything finally comes together (from different sources)

Here’s my router proposal :

I’m wondering especially about these things :

  • is the card compatible with the pc?

  • will the 65W adapter suffice to power everything ? and if not, can i safely use a larger brick?

  • can the pc handle the dual 10G traffic, knowing either stream will rarely be fully saturated? RAM upgrades are no issue, planning at least 16GB to start

  • any other issues I should be wary of?

  • any other hardware suggestions that work better/are cheaper?

This combination should also be a good thing if i run it with proxmox to host a few network related services, such as pihole, wireguard…

Thank you :D

  • @squigglycuntOPEnglish
    1•1 year ago

    thanks for the detailed reply!

    its cool seeing someone running this exact config. I’ll look into the card you suggested. may i ask what’s the difference between them?

    im planning to run dac to uplink/downlink, currently running my switch directly to the isp box using dac

    extra question: can i install some wireless card in the m.2 slot that can do vlan tagging on different SSIDs, or is that job better left off to a dedicated access point?

    • @[email protected]English
      2•1 year ago

      The version I posted is connect x3 and the b variant which is the lower power version. It is still well supported in most Linux/BSD based operating systems. The connect x2 less so, plus it’s on an older more power hungry design.

      IDK about using the wireless card. I have APs so I never tried. I will say an AP will have much better coverage than any Wi-Fi card.