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    Squid slowness issues - also a bounty post

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved pfSense Packages
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    • M Offline
      mhab12
      last edited by

      @sullrich:

      The problem is not the squid package itself.
      We turned off write caching on hard drives which is surely causing your slowdowns:

      sysctl hw.ata.wc

      hw.ata.wc: 0
      Edit /etc/sysctl.conf and find this value and change to:
      hw.ata.wc=1

      I've played with this setting and have not seen any change in throughput, however mine is a SCSI box so perhaps the command is different.  Do you know off hand how to re-enable write caching for SCSI disks?

      I've also noticed that proxy throughput is fine for a few seconds just after reboot.  After reading through the system log, it appears that squid may be starting twice.  Please find below an excerpt from my cache.log

      2007/12/31 10:36:35| Starting Squid Cache version 2.6.STABLE5 for i386-portbld-freebsd6.1...
2007/12/31 10:36:35| Process ID 948
2007/12/31 10:36:35| With 7232 file descriptors available
2007/12/31 10:36:35| Using kqueue for the IO loop
2007/12/31 10:36:35| DNS Socket created at 0.0.0.0, port 9650, FD 5
2007/12/31 10:36:35| Adding nameserver 65.106.1.196 from /etc/resolv.conf
2007/12/31 10:36:35| Adding nameserver 65.106.7.196 from /etc/resolv.conf
2007/12/31 10:36:35| Unlinkd pipe opened on FD 10
2007/12/31 10:36:35| Swap maxSize 102400 KB, estimated 7876 objects
2007/12/31 10:36:35| Target number of buckets: 393
2007/12/31 10:36:35| Using 8192 Store buckets
2007/12/31 10:36:35| Max Mem  size: 8192 KB
2007/12/31 10:36:35| Max Swap size: 102400 KB
2007/12/31 10:36:35| Store logging disabled
2007/12/31 10:36:35| Rebuilding storage in /var/squid/cache (CLEAN)
2007/12/31 10:36:35| Using Least Load store dir selection
2007/12/31 10:36:35| Current Directory is /tmp
2007/12/31 10:36:35| Loaded Icons.
2007/12/31 10:36:35| Accepting proxy HTTP connections at 10.21.1.24, port 3128, FD 12.
2007/12/31 10:36:35| Accepting proxy HTTP connections at 192.168.1.1, port 3128, FD 13.
2007/12/31 10:36:35| Accepting transparently proxied HTTP connections at 127.0.0.1, port 80, FD 14.
2007/12/31 10:36:35| WCCP Disabled.
2007/12/31 10:36:35| Ready to serve requests.
2007/12/31 10:36:35| Done reading /var/squid/cache swaplog (162 entries)
2007/12/31 10:36:35| Finished rebuilding storage from disk.
2007/12/31 10:36:35|       162 Entries scanned
2007/12/31 10:36:35|         0 Invalid entries.
2007/12/31 10:36:35|         0 With invalid flags.
2007/12/31 10:36:35|       162 Objects loaded.
2007/12/31 10:36:35|         0 Objects expired.
2007/12/31 10:36:35|         0 Objects cancelled.
2007/12/31 10:36:35|         0 Duplicate URLs purged.
2007/12/31 10:36:35|         0 Swapfile clashes avoided.
2007/12/31 10:36:35|   Took 0.5 seconds ( 317.8 objects/sec).
2007/12/31 10:36:35| Beginning Validation Procedure
2007/12/31 10:36:35|   Completed Validation Procedure
2007/12/31 10:36:35|   Validated 162 Entries
2007/12/31 10:36:35|   store_swap_size = 568k
2007/12/31 10:36:36| storeLateRelease: released 0 objects
2007/12/31 10:36:40| Starting Squid Cache version 2.6.STABLE5 for i386-portbld-freebsd6.1...
2007/12/31 10:36:40| Process ID 1000
2007/12/31 10:36:40| With 7232 file descriptors available
2007/12/31 10:36:40| Using kqueue for the IO loop
2007/12/31 10:36:40| DNS Socket created at 0.0.0.0, port 3353, FD 5
2007/12/31 10:36:40| Adding nameserver 65.106.1.196 from /etc/resolv.conf
2007/12/31 10:36:40| Adding nameserver 65.106.7.196 from /etc/resolv.conf
2007/12/31 10:36:40| Unlinkd pipe opened on FD 10
2007/12/31 10:36:40| Swap maxSize 102400 KB, estimated 7876 objects
2007/12/31 10:36:40| Target number of buckets: 393
2007/12/31 10:36:40| Using 8192 Store buckets
2007/12/31 10:36:40| Max Mem  size: 8192 KB
2007/12/31 10:36:40| Max Swap size: 102400 KB
2007/12/31 10:36:40| Store logging disabled
2007/12/31 10:36:40| Rebuilding storage in /var/squid/cache (DIRTY)
2007/12/31 10:36:40| Using Least Load store dir selection
2007/12/31 10:36:40| Current Directory is /tmp
2007/12/31 10:36:40| Loaded Icons.
2007/12/31 10:36:40| Accepting proxy HTTP connections at 10.21.1.24, port 3128, FD 12.
2007/12/31 10:36:40| Accepting proxy HTTP connections at 192.168.1.1, port 3128, FD 13.
2007/12/31 10:36:40| Accepting transparently proxied HTTP connections at 127.0.0.1, port 80, FD 14.
2007/12/31 10:36:40| WCCP Disabled.
2007/12/31 10:36:40| Ready to serve requests.
2007/12/31 10:36:40| Done reading /var/squid/cache swaplog (162 entries)
2007/12/31 10:36:40| Finished rebuilding storage from disk.
2007/12/31 10:36:40|       162 Entries scanned
2007/12/31 10:36:40|         0 Invalid entries.
2007/12/31 10:36:40|         0 With invalid flags.
2007/12/31 10:36:40|       162 Objects loaded.
2007/12/31 10:36:40|         0 Objects expired.
2007/12/31 10:36:40|         0 Objects cancelled.
2007/12/31 10:36:40|         0 Duplicate URLs purged.
2007/12/31 10:36:40|         0 Swapfile clashes avoided.
2007/12/31 10:36:40|   Took 0.3 seconds ( 554.1 objects/sec).
2007/12/31 10:36:40| Beginning Validation Procedure
2007/12/31 10:36:40|   Completed Validation Procedure
2007/12/31 10:36:40|   Validated 162 Entries
2007/12/31 10:36:40|   store_swap_size = 568k
2007/12/31 10:36:41| storeLateRelease: released 0 objects

      I appreciate all the help thus far…

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      • M Offline
        mhab12
        last edited by

        I am able to get 50+ mb/s when copying files to and from the pfSense box via WinSCP.  Perhaps this isn't a write caching issue after all.  I'm still ready to pay a bounty for a solution to this problem as it is impacting our business.

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • M Offline
          mhab12
          last edited by

          I just downloaded and installed 1.2RC3 release, not the latest snapshot and speeds were fine after installing squid via the GUI.  The issue must be in the pfsense code somewhere…

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • S Offline
            stevewm
            last edited by

            I am having this problem as well.

            I have a total of 6 pFsense boxen running 1.2 rc4 with the latest available Squid version via Packages.  All 6 boxen are experiencing this issue.

            When going through the proxy pages load about 30% to 40% slower.  I can test at 2800kbps on a speed test site without going through the proxy and only  2200kbps going through it.  I can reproduce this every time.

            I am using local authentication in normal mode, NOT transparent mode.

            I didn't try using Squid until RC4 was out, so cannot confirm if its a problem on an older version.

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            • A Offline
              acidrop
              last edited by

              Hello!

              Are there any news with this issue?

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • H Offline
                heiko
                last edited by

                Yes, please make a squid package update

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • S Offline
                  sullrich
                  last edited by

                  @acidrop:

                  Hello!

                  Are there any news with this issue?

                  Try the newest package.

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • K Offline
                    Kilian
                    last edited by

                    Hi, same problem here, 4 Mb downstream syncronous.

                    pfsense 1.2-RC3, and really serious problems with downstream using proxy, traffic sharper disabled.

                    squid version 2.6.18

                    can anyone help? is there a solution? i'm working with pfsense since a year ago and really proud of it, but no clue how to solve this issue :/

                    kind regards

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • M Offline
                      mhab12
                      last edited by

                      Please add to our bounty to fix the problem!

                      http://forum.pfsense.org/index.php/topic,7911.0.html

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • Cry HavokC Offline
                        Cry Havok
                        last edited by

                        With 1.2 release and the latest Squid package (and traffic shaper enabled) I'm seeing download speeds much the same as before the upgrades - between 16 and 17 Mb/s on my 20 Mb/s line.

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                        • P Offline
                          paulino
                          last edited by

                          Hi!

                          I am having the same squid slow transfer problems on my institution.
                          I have a dual-wan system: one 25 MBps cable connection on WAN for internet access and one institutional adsl 1MBps on WAN OPT3 (also has internet access using another gateway).
                          The OPT3 is connected to a 1GBps switch and has a public IP (we have 32 public ips for mail, webpage, etc… and a cisco router).
                          If I download a huge file from our servers (connected on the WAN OPT3 interface) I can easily get 11000 MBytes/sec from our internal lan's, passing through squid.
                          Nevertheless, accessing the internet (through the cable connection on WAN) I can get maximum 50Kbytes/sec using squid and 2000KBytes/sec using only NAT and proxy off.
                          Why using the same squid traffic is slow in one interface and normal on another?

                          Strangely if I discard the cable connection, deactivate WAN OPT3, and connect the 1MBps connection on WAN interface, I can get the full speed of it, downloading at about 200Kbytes/sec from the internet.
                          Can it be the different modems? On the cable I have a regular Motorola modem, and on the institucional I have a much higher quality adsl modem.
                          Can it be the NIC? When using cable we connect it to pfsense using a 100MBps 3Com card (xl driver) and the 1Mbps is on one VLAN that enters in pfsense throug a Intel PRO1000 (em driver) together with our internal networks...

                          Can anyone shed some light on this problem? I am liking a lot pfsense, but I cannot have squid turned on because of such slow transfers!

                          Yours,
                          Antonio Paulino

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                          • Cry HavokC Offline
                            Cry Havok
                            last edited by

                            Your choice of NICs will pretty certainly be at the core - Intel NICs are much better than the 3Com ones.  I suspect if you switch it for another Intel you'll find a big improvement.

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • P Offline
                              paulino
                              last edited by

                              Hi!
                              Thank you for your sugestion.
                              I exchanged the 3Com NIC for a Intel Pro100 (fxp driver) but the problem stays…

                              Since it is the first time I use pfsense, does anyone knows when the problem first appeared? I don't need many fancy features of pfsense, so probably a old version will just suit me. I just need a simple multi wan routing/NAT/proxy box.

                              António Paulino

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                              • M Offline
                                mhab12
                                last edited by

                                The problem appeared sometime after 1.2rc3.

                                There was a link in another post to older versions.  I just checked it and it has been updated and now only includes 1.2 final.  If anyone knows where some old 1.2 RCs are located, that would be great.  I have a live cd iso for 1.2rc2, but I would hope that the community will respond to the bounty to fix the problem before we're stuck at rc3.

                                Have you tried using only two interfaces (only LAN/WAN, disable/remove all opt interfaces) and see if your problem still exists?

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • P Offline
                                  paulino
                                  last edited by

                                  Hi!

                                  I found the old version (including 1.0.1) in one of the mirrors, named loquefaltaba.
                                  There is one directory "old" which old versions, full iso and upgrade packages.

                                  I haven't done it, but I will try, perhaps today, and then let you know.

                                  António Paulino

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • E Offline
                                    eri--
                                    last edited by

                                    Please can you guys provide the output of kldstat command or by any chance those that have issues are using spamd package?

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • M Offline
                                      mhab12
                                      last edited by

                                      From my working (fast) 1.2rc3 box:

                                      Id Refs Address    Size     Name
 1    3 0xc0400000 6df4ac   kernel
 2    1 0xc0ae0000 59e80    acpi.ko

                                      From my working (very slow) 1.2-Release box:

                                      Id Refs Address    Size     Name
 1    4 0xc0400000 7fb834   kernel
 2    1 0xc0bfc000 59e80    acpi.ko
 3    1 0xc6f56000 d000     ipfw.ko

                                      What do these outputs mean?

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • S Offline
                                        sullrich
                                        last edited by

                                        ipfw.ko is ipfw which is enabled for schedules and or captive portal.

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • R Offline
                                          rafael.cardoso
                                          last edited by

                                          Hi I have five computers with pfsense, all with squid and works very well, never get this problem on any machine, don´t use intel or 3com cards, all cards are realtek 8139, ps - only one point I have a link (1 Mb), all others using pppoe connections.  ??? ???

                                          Respect is Everything!

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                                          • P Offline
                                            paulino
                                            last edited by

                                            Hi!

                                            Finally today I tested an older version of pfsense to diagnose the problem with squid, namely 1.2-RC2.
                                            I used a machine where 1.2-RELEASE and squid 2.6.18 is slow (tested it).
                                            First with only a 25Mbps connection (in WAN)  and LAN connection downloading through squid is blazing fast (the same speed without squid).
                                            Next I downloaded the config.xml from the production machine (1.2-RELEASE), changed the interface IP's (to keep the two machines working at the same time) and uploaded to the 1.2-RC2 version. This includes two-WAN configuration and the three internal networks. The speed stayed fast.
                                            This means the problem is with 1.2-RC4 and later distribution, because now the configuration is the same in both machines: the 1.2-Rc2 is downloading fast and 1.2-RELEASE is downloading slow!

                                            Any suggestions?
                                            Paulino

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