Knowledge Base Articles

Hacom's Knowledge Base lets you find the information you need by searching Hacom's database of user's manual, bios updates, known bugs, "how-to" documents, white papers, system requirements, and common error messages for all of our products.

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Following is a listing of our most current knowledge-base articles.

  1. IPSec Performance of Cisco ASA 5510 as Measured by IPerf

    Submitted by Bao Ha on Mon, 2010-07-12 09:00

    Using iperf, the IPSec site-to-site throughputs of the Cisco ASA 5510 were measured at 66 Mbps for both 3DES and AES-256 encryption. In comparison, the Mercury pfSense appliance's performance was measured at 77 Mbps, and the Mars pfSense appliance's performance at 100 Mbps.

  2. Comparison between Hacom pfSense Appliances and Cisco ASA Firewalls

    Submitted by Bao Ha on Sat, 2010-04-24 12:44

    Comparison between Hacom Mid-Range pfSense Appliances and Cisco ASA Firewalls

  3. IPSec Performance Gained by VPN Hardware Accelerator

    Submitted by Bao Ha on Sat, 2010-04-24 11:27

    IPSec performance is one of decision factors in choosing a firewall appliance. A previous article, IPSec Performance of pfSense Firewall Appliance, examined the performance of various Hacom pfSense appliances.  In this article, the Soekris VPN1411 hardware encryption/decryption accelrator was used to determine if it is beneficial to increase the IPSec performance.

  4. Installing OpenVPN-ALS Java Application Server on Compact Flash Linux

    Submitted by Bao Ha on Sat, 2010-04-10 18:39

    This is the third of the series on Compact Flash Linux. In the first part of the series, we have shown how to install Debian Linux on a compact flash in one of our systems: the OpenBrick-E 600Mhz Celeron-M. In the second installment, we have shown how to configure Linux to minimize the "wear-and-tear" of a compact flash.

  5. Compact Flash Linux - Part 2

    Submitted by Bao Ha on Fri, 2010-04-09 10:49

    In the first part of the series, we have shown how to install Debian Linux on a compact flash in one of our system: the OpenBrick-E 600Mhz Celeron-M. In this second installment, we will show how to configure Linux to minimize the "wear-and-tear" of a compact flash.

  6. Compact Flash Linux - Part 1

    Submitted by Bao Ha on Thu, 2010-04-08 22:09

    This is the first part of a 3-part series on how to install Debian Linux on a Compact Flash. The first part describes how to install Debian Linux on a compact flash in one of our systems: the OpenBrick-E 600Mhz Celeron-M. The second part discusses some optimization techniques to limit the "wear and tear" of the flash memory. It is a different approach than most embedded Linux systems. But in effect, we would turn compact flash Linux into an embedded one.

  7. Debian Installer with Serial Console Support

    Submitted by Bao Ha on Thu, 2010-04-08 21:40

    Serial Console?

    Our headless systems don't have VGA output as well as keyboard and mouse connectors. They rely on the serial port for software installation. Unfortunately, the current Debian Linux CD-ROM installers don't seem to support serial console out-of-the box.

    Most of our systems also have serial console redirection support in the BIOS. It is a convenient way to check a pfSense firewall in a datacenter with just a serial-USB adapter and hyperterminal.

  8. Installation Manuals

    Submitted by Bao Ha on Sat, 2010-03-27 13:08

    Installation manuals for the OpenBrick-E CV700A, Lex Neo CV700A and the Lex Twister CI852A and CI945A are available here. They contain information on how to add memory, hard drive and compact flash.

  9. Power Consumption

    Submitted by Bao Ha on Fri, 2010-03-19 11:14

    Power Consumption Table for Hacom's Systems

    System Board CPU Memory Idle
    (A)    		 Consumption
    (W)    		 Memtest
    (A)    		 Consumption
    (W)
    CV700A-3U10C (fanless) VIA C7 1Ghz

  10. IPSec Performance of pfSense Firewall Appliance

    Submitted by Bao Ha on Mon, 2009-09-28 22:29

    IPSec performance is one of decision factors in choosing a firewall appliance. The 1.5 Ghz Pentium-M Mars pfSense appliance showed the best 3DES throughput of 51 Mbps. It is expected that the Core2Duo Jupiter would outperform the Mars.