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    New TCP congestion algorithm - BBR

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    • H
      Harvy66
      last edited by

      @yon Google is working on BBR2. Lots of improvements in making it both more friendly and more resilient.

      T yon 0Y 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 1
      • T
        tman222 @Harvy66
        last edited by

        @harvy66 said in New TCP congestion algorithm - BBR:

        @yon Google is working on BBR2. Lots of improvements in making it both more friendly and more resilient.

        Hi @Harvy66 - any ideas what specifically they are working on changing/updating? Thanks in advance.

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • yon 0Y
          yon 0 @Harvy66
          last edited by

          @harvy66

          how i get the new BBR in freebsd or linux?

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • Sergei_ShablovskyS
            Sergei_Shablovsky @tman222
            last edited by

            @tman222 said in New TCP congestion algorithm - BBR:

            I know I'm late to the party, but I actually found out about this algorithm just recently as I was searching for network settings to tune for Linux hosts.

            Ran some tests using TCP BBR and I have to say I'm quite impressed with the performance:

            1. Performing a local test using Flent between two 10Gbit Linux hosts using TCP BRR and sitting on different network segments (i.e. the test was done across the firewall) resulted in more stable data transfer and lower latency. Using TCP - BBR I had no trouble pushing 14 - 16Gbit of traffic across the pfSense firewall (Flent is a bi-directional test) with latencies on average between 1 - 2 ms during the test. Using the prior (default) TCP congestion algorithm (Cubic) data transfer was less stable (more variability in bandwidth) and total bandwidth was a little lower as well. Latencies were closer to the 3 - 6ms range.

            2. Performing a WAN test I also got better upload performance than before. I have a 1Gbit symmetric Fiber connection and using TCP BBR I saw higher upload speeds, especially over longer distances (e.g. between East Coast and West Coast). I use fq_codel to manage WAN traffic since I have 10Gbit hosts sending traffic into a 1Gbit interface -- it all seems to work quite well still with TCP BBR enabled on the hosts.

            How You install it on pfSense ?

            Please describe in details, if possible.

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            • Sergei_ShablovskyS
              Sergei_Shablovsky @tman222
              last edited by Sergei_Shablovsky

              @tman222 said in New TCP congestion algorithm - BBR:

              Using the prior (default) TCP congestion algorithm (Cubic) data transfer was less stable (more variability in bandwidth) and total bandwidth was a little lower as well. Latencies were closer to the 3 - 6ms range.

              Cubic - is VERY old CC algorithm, and outdated even in 2012...

              Better to compare QUIC and BBR2/BBR.

              BTW, BBR (and BBR2) more pushed by Netflix (due they need effective netflow with less latency for their server farms), and QUIC are more pushed by Google (due they need effective netflow with less latency & big quantity of packet drops because last 8-9 years traffic goes more “mobile”).

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              • yon 0Y
                yon 0 @Sergei_Shablovsky
                last edited by yon 0

                https://github.com/netflix/tcplog_dumper

                Sergei_ShablovskyS 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • Sergei_ShablovskyS
                  Sergei_Shablovsky @yon 0
                  last edited by Sergei_Shablovsky

                  @yon-0 said in New TCP congestion algorithm - BBR:

                  https://github.com/netflix/tcplog_dumper

                  If I understand the page You previously post (translate from China to Eng) there are only one way - rcompiling the kernel.

                  Using a FreeBSD -head (r363032 minimum, to have the extra TCP stack headers installed), compile a new kernel with BBR and extra TCP stack enabled:
                  

                  And because pfSense CE open source, I able doing that, but in TNSR - definitely no.

                  Am I right ?

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                  • J
                    johneggers
                    last edited by

                    This post is deleted!
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                    • yon 0Y
                      yon 0 @Sergei_Shablovsky
                      last edited by

                      Compile New Kernel
                      Now we are ready to compile the new kernel to activate the TCP BBR.
                      Create a new file RACK (you can use any name you want) in the folder /usr/src/sys/amd64/conf/RACK. Inside the file will need to add the options for TCP BBR and the file should look like this:
                      $ cat /usr/src/sys/amd64/conf/RACK
                      
                      include GENERIC
                      
                      ident RACK
                      
                      makeoptions WITH_EXTRA_TCP_STACKS=1
                      
                      options RATELIMIT
                      
                      options TCPHPTS
                      Next step is to run the following commands (in order) to compile the kernel (this step will take a while)
                      1) make -j 16 KERNCONF=RACK buildkernel
                      
                      2) make installkernel KERNCONF=RACK KODIR=/boot/kernel.rack
                      
                      3) reboot -k kernel.rack
                      The old kernel will be available but with the name "kernel.old". After rebooting, will use the new kernel because of the command "reboot -k kernel.rack", however to make it persistent will require to adjust couple of files (will explain later in this article).
                      Once you have built, installed and rebooted to the new kernel we need to load the RACK kernel module tcp_bbr.ko:
                      kldload /boot/kernel.rack/tcp_bbr.ko 
                      Now you should see the new module in the functions_available report, by typing the command:
                      sysctl net.inet.tcp.functions_available
                      The output will be:
                      net.inet.tcp.functions_available
                      
                      Stack                           D Alias                            PCB count
                      
                      freebsd                         * freebsd                          3
                      
                      bbr                              bbr                               0:
                      Now will require to change the default to TCP BBR:
                      sysctl net.inet.tcp.functions_default=bbr
                      and the output will be:
                      net.inet.tcp.functions_default: freebsd -> bbr
                      
                      root@freebsd # sysctl net.inet.tcp.functions_available
                      
                      net.inet.tcp.functions_available:
                      
                      Stack                           D Alias                            PCB count
                      
                      freebsd                           freebsd                          3
                      
                      bbr                            * bbr                               0k
                      After rebooting, will use the old Kernel, but we can make it persistent.
                      Modify the Loader
                      To force FreeBSD to use the new Kernel after rebooting, will require to adjust 3 files:
                      /etc/sysctl.conf
                      /etc/rc.conf
                      /boot/loader.conf
                      Inside /etc/sysctl.conf we can also add command for optimisation, including the command to enable TCP BBR as a default congestion control function.
                      The file should looks like this:
                      $ cat /etc/sysctl.conf
                      
                      # $FreeBSD$
                      
                      #
                      
                      #  This file is read when going to multi-user and its contents piped thru
                      
                      #  ``sysctl'' to adjust kernel values.  ``man 5 sysctl.conf'' for details.
                      
                      #
                      
                      
                      
                      
                      # Uncomment this to prevent users from seeing information about processes that
                      
                      # are being run under another UID.
                      #security.bsd.see_other_uids=0
                      
                      
                      
                      
                      # set to at least 16MB for 10GE hosts
                      
                      kern.ipc.maxsockbuf=16777216
                      
                      # set autotuning maximum to at least 16MB too
                      
                      net.inet.tcp.sendbuf_max=16777216  
                      
                      net.inet.tcp.recvbuf_max=16777216
                      
                      # enable send/recv autotuning
                      
                      net.inet.tcp.sendbuf_auto=1
                      
                      net.inet.tcp.recvbuf_auto=1
                      
                      # increase autotuning step size 
                      
                      net.inet.tcp.sendbuf_inc=16384 
                      
                      net.inet.tcp.recvbuf_inc=524288 
                      
                      # set this on test/measurement hosts
                      
                      net.inet.tcp.hostcache.expire=1
                      
                      # Set congestion control algorithm to Cubic or HTCP
                      
                      # Make sure the module is loaded at boot time - check loader.conf
                      
                      # net.inet.tcp.cc.algorithm=cubic  
                      
                      net.inet.tcp.cc.algorithm=htcp
                      
                      net.inet.tcp.functions_default=bbr
                      
                      net.inet.tcp.functions_inherit_listen_socket_stack=0
                      The 2nd change is to add the following line inside /etc/rc.conf:
                      kld_list="/boot/kernel.rack/tcp_bbr.ko"
                      and finally the last change is to modify the /boot/loader.conf file, should look like this:
                      $ cat /boot/loader.conf
                      
                      ###  Basic configuration options  ############################                                                                                         
                      
                      kernel="kernel.rack"         # /boot sub-directory containing kernel and modules                                                                                                                    
                      bootfile="kernel.rack"       # Kernel name (possibly absolute path)
                      
                      module_path="/boot/kernel.rack"	# Set the module search path
                      
                      cc_htcp_load="YES"
                      After modifying the files, reboot the server and you should see the HTCP algorithm as well as TCP BBR function as the chosen options:
                      $ sudo   sysctl net.inet.tcp.cc.available
                      
                      net.inet.tcp.cc.available: 
                      
                      CCmod           D PCB count
                      
                      newreno           0
                      
                      htcp            * 6
                      
                      
                      
                      
                      $ sudo sysctl net.inet.tcp.functions_available
                      
                      net.inet.tcp.functions_available: 
                      
                      Stack                           D Alias                            PCB count
                      
                      freebsd                           freebsd                          5
                      
                      bbr                             * bbr                              1
                      
                      
                      yon 0Y 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • yon 0Y
                        yon 0 @yon 0
                        last edited by yon 0

                        https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/frebsd-13-tcp-bbr-congestion-control-andrew-antonopoulos/?trk=articles_directory

                        who try install bbr in freebsd?

                        yon 0Y 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                        • yon 0Y
                          yon 0 @yon 0
                          last edited by

                          In addition, I recently tested using the Quic protocol for network transmission, and the vpn test is more than 5-10 times faster than the existing wireguard. Especially in the case of a bad network environment, it is more obvious.
                          I think pfsense should be more aggressive in innovating technology instead of using very, very old technology. It always feels outdated.

                          Sergei_ShablovskyS 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • M
                            mikehu44444
                            last edited by

                            Hi Guys
                            Late to the party, I just wrote an article on how to build custom pfSense bbr kernel.
                            You can try out my custom build kernel at your own risk.
                            Here is the link:
                            https://github.com/mikehu404/pfsense-bbr

                            w0wW Sergei_ShablovskyS 3 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 3
                            • w0wW
                              w0w @mikehu44444
                              last edited by

                              @mikehu44444 said in New TCP congestion algorithm - BBR:

                              https://github.com/mikehu404/pfsense-bbr

                              88347d36-d678-4772-9541-6cb057a2bf0f-image.png

                              Great work!
                              In reality, there are very few situations where pfSense acts as a client or a server.
                              It would be nice to re-test the pfSense client's speed, but not pfSense itself.
                              I don't think we will see any difference. The tuning that is applicable should be applied to all FreeBSD kernels during the test.

                              M Sergei_ShablovskyS 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • M
                                mikehu44444 @w0w
                                last edited by mikehu44444

                                @w0w said in New TCP congestion algorithm - BBR:

                                In reality, there are very few situations where pfSense acts as a client or a server.

                                Yes, most people use pfSense as a gateway,
                                but for me, I use pfSense on VPS as a web app server & VPN server.
                                This is mainly due to costs, by doing so I only need to rent one server instead of three. Without the complex networking between servers.
                                And it can be further improve upon by using Unix sockets to connect app in jails with haproxy in pfSense without sacrificing security.
                                0.jpg
                                That's why I also enable jail vnet & fusefs capability in the custom kernel.
                                I believe BBR would be beneficial to haproxy and vpn service.

                                w0wW 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                                • w0wW
                                  w0w @mikehu44444
                                  last edited by w0w

                                  @mikehu44444
                                  Actually, this makes the situation even more interesting. Is it possible to run tests from client PCs or virtual machines, with BBR enabled on pfSense and without, not VPN but NAT? Can you do it? So we have full picture and theories confirmed.

                                  Sergei_ShablovskyS 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                  • Sergei_ShablovskyS
                                    Sergei_Shablovsky @mikehu44444
                                    last edited by Sergei_Shablovsky

                                    @mikehu44444 said in New TCP congestion algorithm - BBR:

                                    Hi Guys
                                    Late to the party, I just wrote an article on how to build custom pfSense bbr kernel.
                                    You can try out my custom build kernel at your own risk.

                                    THANK YOU SO MUCH!

                                    Is it possible to make this also in Plus version of pfSense?

                                    Could You be so please to make PR or proposal to Netgate’s DevTeam to implement this BBR/BBR2 support in both CE and pfSense+ versions?

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                                    • Sergei_ShablovskyS
                                      Sergei_Shablovsky @w0w
                                      last edited by

                                      @w0w said in New TCP congestion algorithm - BBR:

                                      @mikehu44444
                                      Actually, this makes the situation even more interesting. Is it possible to run tests from client PCs or virtual machines, with BBR enabled on pfSense and without, not VPN but NAT? Can you do it? So we have full picture and theories confirmed.

                                      Agree! Please, make this test carefully!

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                                      • Sergei_ShablovskyS
                                        Sergei_Shablovsky @yon 0
                                        last edited by Sergei_Shablovsky

                                        @yon-0 said in New TCP congestion algorithm - BBR:

                                        In addition, I recently tested using the Quic protocol for network transmission, and the vpn test is more than 5-10 times faster than the existing wireguard. Especially in the case of a bad network environment, it is more obvious.

                                        VERY INTERESTING!

                                        Please explain details how You make working QUIC congestion control in TCP/IP stack in pfSense CE 2.7.X ?
                                        (I thinking for that You may recompiling the FreeBSD kernel with certain options in configuration file, like

                                        # Congestion control algorithms
                                        options TCP_BBR            # Enable BBR
                                        options TCP_BBR2           # Enable BBR2
                                        options TCP_CDG            # Enable CDG
                                        options TCP_QUIC           # Enable QUIC
                                        

                                        and also

                                        net.inet.tcp.cc.algorithm=bbr2
                                        

                                        must be appended to /boot/loader.conf.

                                        Am wrong ?

                                        Is it possible to make this also in Plus version of pfSense?
                                        (I thinking no, because only Netgate DevTeam have access to private Netgate’s repo with pieces of proprietary code.)

                                        I think pfsense should be more aggressive in innovating technology instead of using very, very old technology. It always feels outdated.

                                        Heh! I wrote the same many times on this forum… ;)

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                                        CLOSE SKY FOR UKRAINE https://youtu.be/_tU1i8VAdCo !
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                                        M 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • M
                                          mikehu44444 @Sergei_Shablovsky
                                          last edited by mikehu44444

                                          @Sergei_Shablovsky said in New TCP congestion algorithm - BBR:

                                          Please explain details how You make working QUIC congestion control in TCP/IP stack in pfSense CE 2.7.X ?

                                          It is possible to use QUIC for VPN, but currently QUIC is mainly use for http3.
                                          You should ask how to enable QUIC with haproxy on pfSense, as this is the right question.

                                          @Sergei_Shablovsky said in New TCP congestion algorithm - BBR:

                                          options TCP_BBR # Enable BBR
                                          options TCP_BBR2 # Enable BBR2

                                          To enable bbr on freebsd.
                                          I don't think BBR2 is available on freebsd yet.

                                          @Sergei_Shablovsky said in New TCP congestion algorithm - BBR:

                                          options TCP_CDG # Enable CDG

                                          cc/cc_cdg          ## Enable CDG
                                          

                                          @Sergei_Shablovsky said in New TCP congestion algorithm - BBR:

                                          net.inet.tcp.cc.algorithm=bbr2
                                          must be appended to /boot/loader.conf.

                                          You should add this option via System Tunables

                                          @Sergei_Shablovsky said in New TCP congestion algorithm - BBR:

                                          Is it possible to make this also in Plus version of pfSense?

                                          Although I never use the plus version before, but I believe the CE version and the plus version shares the same kernel, since you can just upgrade to plus version from CE version.

                                          w0wW Sergei_ShablovskyS 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • w0wW
                                            w0w @mikehu44444
                                            last edited by

                                            @mikehu44444 said in New TCP congestion algorithm - BBR:

                                            but I believe the CE version and the plus version shares the same kernel, since you can just upgrade to plus version from CE version.

                                            No. Plus is freebsd 15 and CE is 14, so kernels are different.
                                            Actually you cant just modify plus version, because it is not free and not open source.
                                            https://www.netgate.com/support/frequently-asked-questions-pfsense-plus#:~:text=Is%20pfSense%20Plus%20software%20open,Routing%2C%20and%20of%20course%20FreeBSD.

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