From owner-freebsd-current@FreeBSD.ORG  Thu Oct 11 14:54:55 2012
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Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2012 16:54:53 +0200
From: Ulrich =?utf-8?B?U3DDtnJsZWlu?= <uqs@FreeBSD.org>
To: current@FreeBSD.org
Subject: Buying recommendation for silent router/fileserver
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Hey guys,

I need to replace an aging Pentium IV system that has been serving as my
router, access point, file- and mediaserver for quite some time now. The
replacement should have:

- amd64 CPU (for ZFS, obviously)
- 2x GigE (igress, egress interfaces)
- some form of wlan interface (I currently use an Atheros based PCI card)
- eSATA for attaching a backup disk where I stream ZFS snapshots to
- serial port is always nice, for when I mess up an upgrade
- fan-less if possible

So far, this here seems to fit the bill perfectly
http://www.fit-pc.com/web/fit-pc/intensepc/
but pricing seems to defy any reality.

It does not state directly which chipsets are used for Wifi and
Ethernet, the block diagram claims Ethernet chips to be Intel 82579 and
RTL8111D, but I don't trust that fully.

For Wifi I can always fall back to sticking in a supported USB stick,
although that's kinda hacky.

So how well is networking going to be supported by FreeBSD? Should I
just bite the bullet and find out?

Cheers,
Uli