System with ALOT of memory and Beefy CPU for fun?

For Developers
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Hello…

I have been using openWRT for a while now and have tested on many devices.
Currently, I’m sporting a few Linksys WRT3200ACMs all with a few different use cases (mainly due to memory limitations - I can’t do it all one one device). I am kind of hooked on testing new software ( it is amazing the things you can do with these things). Which brings me to my issue…

I am looking for something I can do more on …Easily…I went as far as setting up extroot - overlays and external SSDs to use as swap space and shared memory to get things working the way I want…But maybe I need something modular or better suited for testing and development?

I am getting kind of tired of flashing…formatting…configuring ..I want something better suited for development…

The hunt for a development solution begins…

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A virtual machine?

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Lol..I thought of that…And have done that….but then that just turns into running Debian…then then I just end up installing a pen testing distro…then feel like I am going in the wrong direction ….then end back up on openwrt….The hardware is what makes things interesting I think…

But you are right..I do need to look into that….One time I did a x86 setup and it just felt like a overly secure pc with horrible nic cards and 3 Wireless adapters lol

But noted …

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Then just get something more modern with much more RAM and a decent 64-bit CPU resp. SoC.

Hm, looks like none officially supports more than double your RAM aka 1 GB:

Ah, wait a minute. It's just that it sorts alphabetically rather than mathematically! If you scroll down you definitely find also 2 GB hardware.

How about Turris Omnia? Basically your router with 4x the RAM.

Or some NXP Layerscape boards like the LS1046ARDB or LS1088A-RDB even feature 8 GB.

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Run another (firewall)/distro? Exactly what do you want to accomplish?

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PCEngines APU2 boards? https://pcengines.ch/apu2.htm

It's technically 64-bit PC hardware (an old AMD APU) but that board is built for networking use.

Then you can mount whatever wifi or modem card you want on the mini pcie slots.

Another similar device (plenty of RAM and slots for stuff) but with ARM CPU is ClearFog (the Marvell Armada version, not the Octeon version) https://www.solid-run.com/embedded-networking/marvell-armada-family/clearfog/

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I suppose part of it is…I like my current setups but I don’t want to touch it anymore they are doing their job…But I really like bleeding edge and testing new features …So I suppose I want something I can have to just make changes to quickly and easiy..Something devs prefer and mainstream…Rather than jumping through hoops to “unlock potential” so I guess maybe something native with power.

I like to keep up on wireless security as well as modern firewall features and software. I guess you can say it all interest me I and I am always changing things up and testing.

If that makes sense….With that said I will look into some of these recommended hardware posts.

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Ah yes…You get it! Thank you! This is good because the price isn’t too bad either.

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I like this one a lot. It is pretty sleek.
I might just buy this.

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Not sure I follow you here, OpenWrt isn't really ideal if you want ot run "lots of random things" but oh well...
The the APU2 are really old hardware, if you want x86 look at the UP boards or Gigabyte Brix-series (some offers dual Intel NICs)

RockPro64 might also be another option, pop in a NIC if you want more network ports and off you go.

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I’ve done a lot of things with open wrt that’s why I love it…

Anywhere from pen testing to adblocking/url blocking, to site to site vpn or vpn server. onion routing ..vpn tunneling ..network monitoring . Antivirus, DNS server/masq ..wireless extending …WiFi monitoring, NAS…there are a lot of 3rd party tools and setups ..that’s what makes Openwrt so nifty… I mean it can do almost everything my sonic wall can do minus the overpriced applications…new features are always added and projects. So I stand by what I say when I say random haha. I think half the fun is cramming these features in a small box. But I already have routers for that….That’s why I am looking into a beefier system for testing only to stay on top of things I suppose.

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It has AES-NI crypto acceleration though, and UP boards in its price range aren't particularly more powerful (yes if you start shelling 400+ euro on them they get better)

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Meraki MX64/MX65? Both have 2GB RAM, 1GB storage, though wired only. Both available fairly cheap through ebay. Support is pretty much there with a few tweaks needed to get it accepted.

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That's pretty much the only thing going for it, the cheapest Celeron board (189$) is somewhere between 50 to 100% faster :slight_smile:

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based on what benchmark? The ones I see show like 20% difference at most

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You're forgetting that it boosts up to 2.4Ghz and the cores a much more efficient...

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I said benchmark, CPU frequency is irrelevant when comparing vastly different CPUs.
Also I'm disputing your claim of better power efficiency.
Even just checking specs, here is an UP board with two ethernet ports and a Celeron https://up-board.org/up-squared-pro/ "20w typical"
And another with an Atom CPU https://up-shop.org/up-gateway-atom-x5-z8350-w-4g-memory-32g-emmc-board-w-vesa-plate.html "13w typical"
while PCengines says https://pcengines.ch/apu.htm "between 6w and 12w depending on CPU load"

That's very much the same ballpark.

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Pretty sure you're capable of using a search engine at this point but for instance and no need to be hostile.
https://openbenchmarking.org/result/2005284-OBIY-200507389

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Haha thanks...All these are pretty awesome. This is going to be tougher decision than I thought.

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While you are here tho. For another project...What do you recommend for a POE solution. Similar to ubiquity bullets.

Beefy as they get same idea for outdoors.