I want to build a mini-ITX OPNsense router. Here are my requirements:

  • The main OS is Proxmox (installed on the M.2) so that I can manage it as a node in a cluster
  • OPNsense is installed on the SATA SSD and is configured so that it can run as a VM within Proxmox or by itself as the boot drive (in case the M.2 dies or something idk lol)
  • A couple other network-based containers running on LXC containers within Proxmox (such as a redundant Pi-Hole in case I need to do maintenance on my other Pi-Hole VM on a different machine)

Is there anything you would do differently? This feels really expensive for a router (albeit a router that can do lots of cool shit).

The motherboard was chosen because it is the only mini-ITX board I can find with at a reasonable price point with dual-NICs, and I would have opted for a i3-7100T but the motherboard requires a BIOS update to support 7th gen Intel.

Also the whole PicoPSU thing rubs me the wrong way (looks like a fire waiting to happen), is it really the default solution for mini-ITX?

And finally, I will actually need to pick up a switch now that I’m not using my router’s LAN ports, so what are people’s thoughts on an SG200-18?

https://preview.redd.it/vu3zabw1f0xb1.png?width=900&format=png&auto=webp&s=adb0240a55de49e4eddc42f815b796d746321a23