What can I turn this into?

[brisie]

Bought this as a router but I was hoping to run Proxmox with Opnsense , Truenas using a 2.5" ssd drive and a couple of NVMe 4TB drives for Truenas to run Immich and plex with no raid
only need about 6TB and wanted to back up on old NAS spin drives. The idea was an all in one, and to save power and use a all in one machine.
I can't see a way to do this but any recommendations to get the best out of the machine would help.

Product Highlights​

• High-Speed Networking:
  
  • 4× Intel i226-V 2.5Gbps RJ45 LAN ports + 1× RJ45 Console port.
  • PCIe x8 Expansion Slot (PCIE3.0 x4 signal) with optional modules:
    
    • Intel 82599ES 2×10G SFP+ module or
    • Intel X710-DA4 4×10G SFP+ module.
  • 5G connectivity support via 1× SIM card slot.
• Flexible Storage & Memory:
  
  • 2× DDR5 SODIMM slots (non-ECC), max 64GB 4800MHz.
  • 1× M.2 NVMe PCIe x4 2280 SSD + 1× SATA 3.0 port.
  • Additional M.2 slots:
    
    • 1× M.2 2230 (supports PCIe3.0/USB/CNVI).
    • 1× M.2 3052 (supports PCIe3.0/USB).
• Versatile Connectivity:
  
  • 2× USB 3.0, 2× USB 2.0, 1× USB Type-C (USB2.0).
  • Dual 4K display: 1× HDMI + 1× DisplayPort.
• Advanced Features:
  
  • AES-NI encryption, ideal for firewall/VPN (supports Proxmox VE, ESXi, pfSense, OPNsense).
  • Enterprise-ready: Watchdog, Auto Power-On, RTC, PXE Boot, Wake-on-LAN.
• Robust Cooling & Design:
  
  • Full aluminum chassis with high-density cooling fins for passive heat dissipation.
  • Includes 4-pin external fan (free gift) for enhanced thermal performance.
  • Industrial-grade craftsmanship, compact yet durable.

 

[RMerlin]

I'd be worried about thermal issues, especially if you add a pair of NVME drives in there. A lot of these fanless devices are fine when running under a light load (like as a router), but become unstable or highly throttled when running any heavier workload.

I used to have a fanless PC to run my VMs (I was using XCP-NG back then). During the summer, it would freeze every few weeks due to overheating. I eventually replaced it with another mini PC but equipped with a fan.

 

[ddaenen1]

AIO sounds like a great concept but i would never recommend running pfSense or OPNSense in a VM. Routers/firewalls should always run bare metal imho.

 

[Tech9]

i would never recommend running pfSense or OPNSense in a VM

Indeed. Security concerns aside - single device as a point of failure for all services.

 

[sfx2000]

I'd be worried about thermal issues, especially if you add a pair of NVME drives in there. A lot of these fanless devices are fine when running under a light load (like as a router), but become unstable or highly throttled when running any heavier workload.

I used to have a fanless PC to run my VMs (I was using XCP-NG back then). During the summer, it would freeze every few weeks due to overheating. I eventually replaced it with another mini PC but equipped with a fan.

Esp since it is an i7, which is generally overkill for something like a gateway - and if this is actually fanless, the CPU will be hopelessly thermal throttled under any kind of load.

I've got an older Lanner box with an Intel C3758 (8 core goldmont) that I use as a testing host - and it has a fan, and runs just fine - even then, under load it does get a bit toasty...

 

[sfx2000]

Indeed. Security concerns aside - single device as a point of failure for all services.

Exactly - and running the router as a VM means twice the work to keep everything up to date - the host as well as the guest OS...