Netgate Discussion Forum
    • Categories
    • Recent
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Users
    • Search
    • Register
    • Login

    25 GbE network card for PFsense 2.7

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Hardware
    17 Posts 6 Posters 2.4k Views
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • AmodinA
      Amodin @Jakub_
      last edited by Amodin

      @Jakub_ said in 25 GbE network card for PFsense 2.7:

      Hello everyone !
      Please advise which 25 GbE network card to choose.
      I have bad experience with Broadcom, good with intel. Maybe someone can recommend any card that works well with PFsense 2.7
      Jakub

      I didn't think it supported anything higher than 10GbE? (I could be totally wrong on that, I swore I read it some place though)
      If it does, I would recommend any Intel chipset card, but I believe there is a hardware list showing what works.

      Jakub_J 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • Jakub_J
        Jakub_ @Amodin
        last edited by

        @Amodin
        According to the documentation 25 GbE is supported but my experience is negative hence the question.

        AmodinA 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • AmodinA
          Amodin @Jakub_
          last edited by Amodin

          @Jakub_

          Yeah I'm sure you are correct about that but surprises me that you had a bad Broadcom experience. I would personally stay away from any Realtek based chipset NIC and stick with anything Intel.

          Edit: I think the only 25GbE Intel cards are quad ports only, if that is of any concern, and I'm sure it won't be cheap, lol. Are you looking for an Ethernet card, or one to plug MiniGBic into?

          Jakub_J 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • Jakub_J
            Jakub_ @Amodin
            last edited by

            @Amodin Preferable SFP+ / SFP 28

            AmodinA 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • stephenw10S
              stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
              last edited by

              There are a few reports of high througputs here with Mellanox NICs. Also using the Intel e800 series, ice(4) driver.

              Jakub_J 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • AmodinA
                Amodin @Jakub_
                last edited by

                @Jakub_ said in 25 GbE network card for PFsense 2.7:

                @Amodin Preferable SFP+ / SFP 28

                As was mentioned, I have heard good things about Mellanox, and if you are an avid Amazon shopper, it's on there as well - so far showing the only one with that much throughput on SFP. I haven't personally used the product, as I tend to stick with Intel-based, but I don't recall them having an affordable product for what you are referring to...

                Now their i225-V chipsets I wouldn't touch with a 50ft pole....

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • Jakub_J
                  Jakub_ @stephenw10
                  last edited by Jakub_

                  Thanks guys,
                  So I can order two pieces (I need 4 interfaces)
                  Intel E810-XXVDA2 without worrying about compatibility issues ? Alternatively which Mellanox do you recommend ?

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • stephenw10S
                    stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                    last edited by

                    Check this thread: https://forum.netgate.com/topic/182079/help-with-25g-speeds-on-ha-pfsense-routers-lacp-using-mellanox-connectx-5-nic

                    Though actually passing traffic at those speeds still surprises me.

                    M Jakub_J 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • M
                      machbot @stephenw10
                      last edited by machbot

                      @stephenw10 said in 25 GbE network card for PFsense 2.7:

                      Though actually passing traffic at those speeds still surprises me.

                      He is probably using 9000 MTU; you only need to process 350k packets per second to hit 25Gb/s at 9000 MTU.

                      I've ran some rudimentary test using iperf3 and only managed to reach 1.4M packet per second using 4 out of 6 cores of an i5 12500. 2 virtual functions from different connectx-4 lx physical functions was used as the NIC,

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                      • Jakub_J
                        Jakub_ @stephenw10
                        last edited by

                        @stephenw10
                        Hi again guys !
                        Finally purchased four Mallonix MCX512A cards, PCIe3.0 x 8 ( R250 riser limit is two PCI 8x ).
                        I made some tests. R250 (with two MCX512) to R250 (with two MCX512).
                        1 to 1 25GbE :
                        pf25.jpg
                        and LAGG 3x 25GbE:
                        Zrzut ekranu 2023-11-30 162217.jpg
                        Enjoy :)
                        Jakub.

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 3
                        • stephenw10S
                          stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                          last edited by stephenw10

                          Nice! What CPU is that using?

                          And is that with jumboframes?

                          Jakub_J 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • Jakub_J
                            Jakub_ @stephenw10
                            last edited by

                            @stephenw10
                            Intel(R) Xeon(R) E-2356G CPU @ 3.20GHz / 32GB RAM.
                            Yes, with jumbo frames.

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                            • planedropP
                              planedrop
                              last edited by

                              @Jakub_ are you seeing these kind of performance numbers real world too or just iperf?

                              I know slightly older thread, but was curious if anyone had really seen much more than 10 ish gigabit through pfSense. Been working on planning a new firewall build for myself as my Netgate 6100 just can't keep up with my 8 gigabit WAN (didn't expect it to) and been debating if I should aim for something with 25 gig adapters for "future proofing" but am not sure if it's remotely worth it. Current plan is a Xeon 2146NT since it has QAT built in which I do care about.

                              Jakub_J Dobby_D 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • Jakub_J
                                Jakub_ @planedrop
                                last edited by

                                @planedrop
                                The solution has been deployed in production, but we still have not transferred all the data streams, so I can boast of much lower results, while the 25GbE cards are working stable.
                                When I have an average load > 10GbE I will post.
                                FW_speed.jpg

                                planedropP 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 3
                                • Dobby_D
                                  Dobby_ @planedrop
                                  last edited by

                                  @planedrop said in 25 GbE network card for PFsense 2.7:

                                  I know slightly older thread, but was curious if anyone had really seen much more than 10 ish gigabit through pfSense.

                                  Often users are installing router and/or firewalls internal of their networks
                                  so no WAN/LAN but more LA/LAN traffic may be here the factor for higher
                                  traffic. And by side this is a nearly ~400 € CPU with max. 5GHz 6C/12T
                                  and plenty of RAM for buffering.

                                  #~. @Dobby

                                  Turris Omnia - 4 Ports - 2 GB RAM / TurrisOS 7 Release (Btrfs)
                                  PC Engines APU4D4 - 4 Ports - 4 GB RAM / pfSense CE 2.7.2 Release (ZFS)
                                  PC Engines APU6B4 - 4 Ports - 4 GB RAM / pfSense+ (Plus) 24.03_1 Release (ZFS)

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                  • planedropP
                                    planedrop @Jakub_
                                    last edited by

                                    @Jakub_ Sweet, this is at least a good start, appreciate the follow ups!

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • First post
                                      Last post
                                    Copyright 2025 Rubicon Communications LLC (Netgate). All rights reserved.