Temp monitoring net cards for pfsense box

Hardware Cooling
1

I’m looking for advice on cooling/temp monitoring for a Pfsense router. I picked up a cheap refurb Dell 7020 SFF i3 to use as a PFsense box. I put a quad i340 gigabit adapter in one PCIe slot and a Mellanox MCX-311a in the other for potential 10gb down the road. I’m a bit worried about airflow & heat, since I’m planning on hiding this up in a closet in my house.

Are there probe thermometers that can attach via USB for temperature monitoring? If I have to, I could tax the network cards, pop the case, and use an infrared thermometer, but that’s a labor-intensive solution.
I appreciate any thoughts/advice.

2

lm_sensor might interface with it.

3

A thermometer can only tell you what the temperature is. Do you know how hot is too hot?
Let’s say it does get too hot. Then what? Are you going to make another post about that problem?

You’re overthinking it. It either works, or it doesn’t.
Zip tie some extra fans inside the case if you’re paranoid.
Otherwise, relax. It’ll be fine. ™