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    25 GbE network card for PFsense 2.7

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    • 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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