New SDR for Dragon O/S PenTest Platform

I’m adding some serious RF support to my Dragon O/S penetration testing platform. The plan is to install this SDR (Software Defined Radio) hardware into the HP ML350P Gen8 server. To do so, I need to configure PCIe passthrough to the Dragon O/S Proxmox VM (Virtual Machine).

PCIe Passthrough Configuration

My ‘pre-purchase’ research has revealed that not just any USB expansion card can be used (reliably) in the HP ProLiant server. Most USB chipsets used in todays consumer level plug & play expansion cards lack the required firmware specifications for reliable use in a PCIe passthrough configuration. Due to the huge bandwidth requirements of the HackRF Pro and the ALFA AWUS036NHA Wifi adapter, it is recommended to use PCIe passthrough as opposed to USB passthrough.

AI Overview: PCIe Passthrough

PCIe USB 3.0 expansion cards utilizing the Renesas/NEC µPD720201 (4-port) or µPD720202 (2-port) chipsets are excellent choices for reliable SuperSpeed 5Gbps data transfers. They are widely used for legacy desktop upgrades and dedicated hardware passthrough configurations.

For virtualization and IOMMU hardware passthrough (such as on Proxmox, ESXi, TrueNAS, or unRAID), PCIe cards using the Renesas/NEC µPD720201 or µPD720202 chipsets are the gold standard. They are heavily favored over ASMedia or VIA controllers because they isolate cleanly into their own IOMMU groups, reset properly without hung-VM kernel panics, and do not require proprietary drivers in the host or guest OS.

Break Out the Docs!

I’ll be spending time the next couple of evenings with the HackRF Pro documentation. There’s a lot to take in as far as its capabilities, operation, and application to LTE auditing. The Dragon O/S is specifically designed for exactly this type of research. I expect the HackRF to integrate seamlessly with the server hardware. I plan to have the radio on the air as soon as the Fovore USB expansion card arrives.

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