Hey!

So i recently received a new node that i was looking to turn into a proxmox host with pfsense on it (lets call it node B) I created a new cluster on another proxmox node (node A) and added node B i was setting up pfsense on node B, IPs everywhere got a bit messed up, and neither node could talk to the other, i tried exiting the cluster to reenter but i messed it up worse, so i reinstalled that node and went ahead with a fresh pfsense setup after a couple days of working on and off on it, i finally got it working well enough that i went to setup vlans for my node A (the master node of the cluster, that used to have node B which doesnt exist anymore), i couldnt get any video output, which was weird, nothing seemed to work, so i forced reboot (yup i suck) now when it boots up, its stuck on “initializing ram disks…”, and i can’t see any other method than reinstalling but i was still hoping for being able to fix it or at least recover /etc/pve i have all the vms backed up but i just dont want to go reconfiguring from scratch

what i suspect is either:

• the cluster having a no longer existing node throws some error (that i dont know where to get)
• the reboot was a bad idea, though that doesn’t explain why it was frozen in the first place (knowing i didnt touch it for a few days)
• i have a few backups to a separate nas which was inaccessible during these days, maybe it was stuck someway

Ive tried the following a few guides online but they all seem to assume i somehow have access to the command line, which is not the case, but i was wondering if there’s still someway i can get in, some sort of recovery/safe mode?

some of my theories are batshit crazy but im just trying to give you a few pointers

ive ran memory and disk checks on the uefi let me know if there any more info that could help investigate this further

Hi,

I’ve been trying to work out my network architecture with the pieces i have today:

• isp box with 10gig dac downlink, 4 ssd bays
• pfsense box with dual 10gig dac card
• switch with 10gig dac uplink and multi gig rj45
• main proxmox host
• other devices (laptops, iot…)

ive ran into a dilemma regarding switching my isp box to bridge mode:

• if i do, i lose wlan and nas capabilities
• if i dont, i have to contend with double nat

i’m sure that eventually i will get an ap (maybe unifi) and a dedicated nas (either home built or something like synology or asustore), but for the moment, i want to keep cost down and gradually add new pieces

i was wondering if double nat is of huge performance and maintenance implications, or if i would be okay running this setup for a few months until i get to add an ap and nas?

thank you

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 :

• Lenovo ThinkCentre M720q (i3-8xxxT or i5-8xxxT, PCIe x8 slot, RAM and SSD are some spares I have lying around) ~200€

• Mellanox dual 10Gbps SFP+ PCIe card (+ riser) ~90€

• ProxMox with virtualized pfSense/OPNsense or bare metal install

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