[conspire] Quiet, Freedom-compatible NAT/firewall/misc box?

[Rick Moen]

Something similar to the ASRock motherboard / AMD SoC bundle cited here...

> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157518 
> Note $79 for motherboard and SoC.  If you suspect I'm leaning towards
> buying one of these bundles plus a compact mini-iTX case, 32GB RAM, and
> an SSD or two, you'd be correct.

...is this similar ECS motherboard / AMD SoC bundle, which is _fanless_,
thus totally silent:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1681313536

Fanless operation is possible because it uses an AMD E1-2100, which is a
dual-core "Kabini" SoC (9W TDP) -- cf. the fan-cooled quad-core AMD A4-5000
'Kabini' (15W TDP) bundled with the ASRock.

Motherboard is an Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) KBN-I mini-ITX
board.  Linux-oriented review at a different site, here:
http://linuxgizmos.com/rugged-mini-itx-board-runs-amd-kabini-system-on-chip/


Reading the Newegg customer reviews on the ECS bundle is interesting.
You have to ignore 2/3 that are from Windows users whining about how
they need more CPU power.  The Linux users are generally happy.  Major
points to note:

o  The Realtek 8111E ethernet chipset isn't great (no surprise; it's
   Realtek), and you'll want a kernel, e.g., Debian Jessie or CentOS 6.2.
   (I believe a mini-PCIe card with one or more Intel NIC is pretty
   cheap, if the RealTek is a problem.)  Grumbling from Ubuntu people
   not smart enough to use leading-edge releases must be discounted 
   along with the MS-Windows people.

o  Total _system_ AC draw (presumably with SSD) is said to be about
   6-8W in normal use.  Another says with a hard drive it's 13W at
   idle, 20W loaded.  Either way, pretty amazing -- down in
   Raspberry Pi territory.

o  ATX PSU needs to be one with a 24-pin connector, not 20-pin.

o  Some customers claim ECS has questionable QA, e.g., infant mortality
   and replacement.  Doesn't seem like a company with lots of friends.
   (I've never heard of it before, FWIW.)

o  Against all odds, this board/SoC combo is fast enough for home theatre PC
   duty, though it's no speed demon.  Loved one reviewer's characterisation 
   of the machine as a 'phone chip glued on a micro board'.


I get the vibes that ASRock's motherboards are maybe more solid --
but I'm new to this market and don't know the players.   

Don, you wanted silent.  This meets spec for your project (w/NIC board
in one of the 2 PCIe slots, to give you that second NIC).  Newegg
customer reviews say cost of the combo is about $30 after ECS's rebate
-- which, again, makes this a Pi competitor.