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    25 GbE network card for PFsense 2.7

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    • 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
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