Hello, I'm considering buying a Soekris net5501-70 and install OpenBSD on 
it to make myself a small server and use it as a proxy (ssh tunnel), it 
might serve as backup file sever as well. I guess at the most there will 
be two-three computers connnected at the same time, and there might be 
some streaming video going through, like the videos you find on online 
newspapers. I have googled around, and read that this kind of hardware is 
fine as a router but not so much as a server. Is it true?
Thank you for any 
suggestions.
I was also considering using a netbook for the task. What 
about it?
Thanks in advance.

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So, if I use it only for ssh tunneling both soekris and netbook would be 
fine? Of course, it has to be on 24*7.

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I own a 45xx series Soekris system which handles DMZ traffic (2 low load
production web servers + RCS repositories, and 3 build systems for MariaDB),
internal traffic (my home network for streaming movies and internet access)
and ssh access to my DMZ just fine.  The specifications for the Soekris
system you mentioned don't lead me to be believe they'd be great for file
server duty.  When I think of file servers I think of fast disk (5501 can
use SATA so that's a plus) coupled with a battery backed RAID controller
with gobs of cache and redundancy somewhere preserving my data in case of
disk failure.  If your disk goes on the 5501 I imagine you're toast unless
you have a continual backup process that doesn't chew your available
When I think of these machines and similar ones I think "configuration file
backup and restore."  What I mean by that is you should be OK with waking up
one day and finding your machine dead but able to get backup and running in
a less than 20 minutes using a new device and your configuration file
backups.  I am NOT implying Soekris boards are unreliable, I love mine and
would buy more if I needed to, but I am saying that planning for failure
should be one of the first things considered when you're constructing a
critical piece of your home/business network.

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Le Fri, 3 Dec 2010 08:44:43 -0500,

On the net5501 this is not a real SATA, the box uses a PATA-SATA adapter
behind the cs5536 chipset.

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Le Fri, 3 Dec 2010 19:28:19 +0800 (CST),

It depends on the connection, do not expect a 100M/bits link.
I use a net5501 for my "all-in-one" box (file server (samba), printers
share, router, ...). The file server is not very speed but is enougth
for doing backups. (From time to time, backup the server to an external

I don't think a netbook will be reliable running 24/24.

This was my only concern on the net5501, the reliablity of the internal
2.5" disk drive, looks good after 3 years.

Check the soekris-tech mailing list, questions about performances are
often asked.

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Thank you all, I don't need cutting-edge speed, and from what 
you say, Soekris should just be fine. For file server I have not been 
clear, in fact I meant a backup server, so it should probably handle all 
of it quite fine. I'm also checking out a few fanless Atom mini-pcs, but 
at about the same price soekris is probably more fit for the job.

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happy with it's performance.  The IPMI capabilities are very nice.

http://www.supermicro.com/products/system/1U/#Atom
<http://www.supermicro.com/products/system/1U/#Atom>
http://www.supermicro.com/products/system/1U/5015/SYS-5015A-PHF.cfm

The only thing I don't care for on it is the trusted platform module chip.
 The boards have a jumper to disable the chip, but the pins on the
motherboard have been removed, so you can not disable it without some
soldering.

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I've built up several of the EHF variety for both firewall and server
purposes. The EHF model supersedes the PHF with a smaller board that
provides room to make use of the included riser card. It is not
fanless but the fan can be virtually disabled via the BIOS. The
embedded IPMI support is really superb, providing serial over LAN,
virtual CD & floppy, etc. Intel NIC's with PXE support. Yada, yada,
yada...highly recommended.

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the only reason i don't/wouldn't use my soekris as a server (actually,
i do use it as a dns and dhcp server) is limited storage.  a single
2.5in disk is not my ideal backup server configuration.

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Forget Soekris. Get a Lanner FW7530 or similar.

Best
   Martin

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I've run both, and agree with this. The Soekris isn't built with very 
good parts (== unstable over time), the Lanner box is a solid performer. 
I'm going to try out the 7535 soon.

Pierre


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Check out the LEC-2026:
http://www.s-connect.ltd.uk/Lanner-Electronics-Inc-/Lanner-LEC-2026/p2831.html

It's the industrial variant of the 7530.

Best
   Martin

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Thank you, I'll check it out, the funny is, I cannot a price range on the 
web.

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Ask a distributor. The FW7530 was about 400 in Germany when I asked.

Best
   Martin

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