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

    Using a hard-disk in a Watchguard Firebox X750e for cache/log storage

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Hardware
    49 Posts 11 Posters 16.4k 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.
    • S
      Steve Evans
      last edited by

      Here is the complete patched /etc/rc.embedded.

      #!/bin/sh
      #
      # rc.embedded - embedded system specific startup information
      # For pfSense
      
      # Size of /tmp
      USE_MFS_TMP_SIZE=`/usr/bin/grep use_mfs_tmp_size /cf/conf/config.xml | /usr/bin/cut -f2 -d'>' | /usr/bin/cut -f1 -d'<'`
      if [ ! -z ${USE_MFS_TMP_SIZE} ] && [ ${USE_MFS_TMP_SIZE} -gt 0 ]; then
      	tmpsize="${USE_MFS_TMP_SIZE}m"
      else
      	tmpsize="40m"
      fi
      
      # Size of /var
      USE_MFS_VAR_SIZE=`/usr/bin/grep use_mfs_var_size /cf/conf/config.xml | /usr/bin/cut -f2 -d'>' | /usr/bin/cut -f1 -d'<'`
      if [ ! -z ${USE_MFS_VAR_SIZE} ] && [ ${USE_MFS_VAR_SIZE} -gt 0 ]; then
      	varsize="${USE_MFS_VAR_SIZE}m"
      else
      	varsize="60m"
      fi
      
      # Run some initialization routines
      [ -f /etc/rc.d/uzip ] && /etc/rc.d/uzip start
      
      echo -n "Setting up memory disks..."
      mdmfs -S -M -s ${tmpsize} md /tmp
      
      # If a hard disk is installed then mount that on /var
      # otherwise use a ramdisk
      harddisk="/dev/ad1s1a"
      if [ -c $harddisk ]
      then
      	echo -n "Using /var physical disk..."
      	mount -o noatime $harddisk /var
      
      	# Ensure /var/run is removed on boot before daemons are started
      	# It should arguably be a tmpfs, but this works fine
      	rm -r /var/run
      
      	# sshd won't start if /var/empty exists on boot
      	rm -r /var/empty
      else
      	echo -n "Using /var memory disk..."
      	mdmfs -S -M -s ${varsize} md /var
      
      	# Create some needed directories
      	/bin/mkdir -p /var/db
      
      	# Ensure vi's recover directory is present
      	/bin/mkdir -p /var/tmp/vi.recover/
      fi
      
      echo " done."
      
      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • S
        sg1
        last edited by

        Thank you so much Steve!  Works perfectly.  Thanks for your patience….

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • A
          atrocity
          last edited by

          only my result of a x5500e with a ide SSD from CWC :

          /dev/ad1s1a
                  512            # sectorsize
                  57872344064    # mediasize in bytes (53G)
                  113031922      # mediasize in sectors
                  0              # stripesize
                  40448          # stripeoffset
                  112134          # Cylinders according to firmware.
                  16              # Heads according to firmware.
                  63              # Sectors according to firmware.
                  OW140822AS1514144      # Disk ident.

          Seek times:
                  Full stroke:      250 iter in  0.040570 sec =    0.162 msec
                  Half stroke:      250 iter in  0.037379 sec =    0.150 msec
                  Quarter stroke:  500 iter in  0.125276 sec =    0.251 msec
                  Short forward:    400 iter in  0.093555 sec =    0.234 msec
                  Short backward:  400 iter in  0.096201 sec =    0.241 msec
                  Seq outer:      2048 iter in  0.169674 sec =    0.083 msec
                  Seq inner:      2048 iter in  0.123082 sec =    0.060 msec
          Transfer rates:
                  outside:      102400 kbytes in  1.124830 sec =    91036 kbytes/sec
                  middle:        102400 kbytes in  1.128009 sec =    90779 kbytes/sec
                  inside:        102400 kbytes in  1.125042 sec =    91019 kbytes/sec

          seems that i don't have to tune anything.
          I will make the same test with a x750e soon, will let you know if somebody is interrested :)
          Regards

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

            What tool are you testing that with? Did you enable TRIM? Be interesting to see how those figures vary over time once you've moved a few gigs across the drive.

            Steve

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • A
              atrocity
              last edited by

              hi,

              i simply use this :

              diskinfo -tv /dev/ad1

              Trim … i did a try to enable it, but our server don't want it.
              Don't remember the problem or the error, sorry.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • S
                Steve Evans
                last edited by

                Good to see how quick this can run. If my ISP increases speed x5 I may have to get an SSD!

                Steve

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • S
                  Steve Evans
                  last edited by

                  Having updated to 2.2 the support for my hard-drive now appears rather worse.

                  The atacontrol utility which did exactly what I needed has been superseded by camcontrol. This reports that the disk is in polled mode.

                  $ camcontrol negotiate /dev/ada1 -v 
                  Current parameters:
                  (pass1:ata0:0:1:0): ATA mode: PIO4
                  (pass1:ata0:0:1:0): ATAPI packet length: 0
                  (pass1:ata0:0:1:0): PIO transaction length: 8192
                  (pass1:ata0:0:1:0): tagged queueing: disabled
                  ata0: SIM/HBA version: 1
                  ata0: supports SDTR message
                  ata0: scan bus sequentially
                  ata0: HBA engine count: 0
                  ata0: maximum target: 1
                  ata0: maximum LUN: 0
                  ata0: highest path ID in subsystem: 0
                  ata0: initiator ID: 0
                  ata0: SIM vendor: FreeBSD
                  ata0: HBA vendor: ATA
                  ata0: HBA vendor ID: 0x8086
                  ata0: HBA device ID: 0x266f
                  ata0: HBA subvendor ID: 0x8086
                  ata0: HBA subdevice ID: 0x266f
                  ata0: bus ID: 0
                  ata0: base transfer speed: 3.300MB/sec
                  ata0: maximum transfer size: 131072 bytes
                  

                  I should be able to set the disk to UDMA33 mode however, this is what I get.

                  $ camcontrol negotiate /dev/ada1 -v -U -M UDMA33 -a
                  User parameters:
                  (pass1:ata0:0:1:0): ATA mode: UDMA2
                  (pass1:ata0:0:1:0): ATAPI packet length: 0
                  (pass1:ata0:0:1:0): PIO transaction length: 131072
                  (pass1:ata0:0:1:0): tagged queueing: enabled
                  ata0: SIM/HBA version: 1
                  ata0: supports SDTR message
                  ata0: scan bus sequentially
                  ata0: HBA engine count: 0
                  ata0: maximum target: 1
                  ata0: maximum LUN: 0
                  ata0: highest path ID in subsystem: 0
                  ata0: initiator ID: 0
                  ata0: SIM vendor: FreeBSD
                  ata0: HBA vendor: ATA
                  ata0: HBA vendor ID: 0x8086
                  ata0: HBA device ID: 0x266f
                  ata0: HBA subvendor ID: 0x8086
                  ata0: HBA subdevice ID: 0x266f
                  ata0: bus ID: 0
                  ata0: base transfer speed: 3.300MB/sec
                  ata0: maximum transfer size: 131072 bytes
                  Unit is not ready
                  (pass1:ata0:0:1:0): TEST UNIT READY. CDB: 00 00 00 00 00 00 
                  (pass1:ata0:0:1:0): CAM status: CCB request was invalid
                  Test Unit Ready failed
                  

                  I've tried all manner of variations. Any ideas to get camcontrol to do what a simple

                  atacontrol mode ad1 UDMA6
                  

                  would do before?

                  Thanks,

                  Steve

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

                    Haven't you alread set ata0 to PIO4 only though?
                    The HD and CF are on the same IDE channel right?

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • S
                      Steve Evans
                      last edited by

                      Hi Stephen,

                      This is what I'm trying to get my head round at the moment, reading the FreeBSD documentation to better understand the nomenclature.

                      If I boot without specifying

                      hint.ata.0.mode=PIO4
                      

                      I see the following on the console

                      ada0 at ata0 bus 0 scbus0 target 0 lun 0
                      ada0: <sandisk sdcfh-004g="" hdx="" 6.02=""> CFA-0 device
                      ada0: Serial Number ABZ042211193008
                      ada0: 66.700MB/s transfers (UDMA4, PIO 512bytes)
                      ada0: 3815MB (7813120 512 byte sectors: 16H 63S/T 7751C)
                      ada0: Previously was known as ad0
                      ada1 at ata0 bus 0 scbus0 target 1 lun 0
                      ada1: <st9402115a 3.01=""> ATA-6 device
                      ada1: Serial Number 5PV09ZED
                      ada1: 100.000MB/s transfers (UDMA5, PIO 8192bytes)
                      ada1: 38154MB (78140160 512 byte sectors: 16H 63S/T 16383C)
                      ada1: Previously was known as ad1</st9402115a></sandisk>
                      

                      Rather than

                      ada0 at ata0 bus 0 scbus0 target 0 lun 0
                      ada0: <sandisk sdcfh-004g="" hdx="" 6.02=""> CFA-0 device
                      ada0: Serial Number ABZ042211193008
                      ada0: 16.700MB/s transfers (PIO4, PIO 512bytes)
                      ada0: 3815MB (7813120 512 byte sectors: 16H 63S/T 7751C)
                      ada0: Previously was known as ad0
                      ada1 at ata0 bus 0 scbus0 target 1 lun 0
                      ada1: <st9402115a 3.01=""> ATA-6 device
                      ada1: Serial Number 5PV09ZED
                      ada1: 16.700MB/s transfers (PIO4, PIO 8192bytes)
                      ada1: 38154MB (78140160 512 byte sectors: 16H 63S/T 16383C)
                      ada1: Previously was known as ad1</st9402115a></sandisk>
                      

                      As you point out, this setting affects them both. I've been trying to understand what granularity of control the driver gives me. From the ata man page there's the following which suggests per device control, but I don't currently understand what "specified device" means exactly.

                      @https://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=ata(4)&sektion=:

                      hint.ata.X.devX.mode
                          limits the initial ATA mode for the specified device on the specified channel.

                      hint.ata.X.mode
                          limits the initial ATA mode for every device on the specified channel.

                      I'm not sure how the master/slave IDE arrangement maps onto the above. Any pointers much appreciated!

                      Thanks,

                      Steve

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

                        Pretty sure the CF slot is always master if a CF card is in it so I would think it's dev0.

                        On my test box here which I haven't set loader.conf.local on it will boot if I use:

                        Hit [Enter] to boot immediately, or any other key for command prompt.
                        Booting [/boot/kernel/kernel] in 4 seconds...
                        
                        Type '?' for a list of commands, 'help' for more detailed help.
                        OK set hint.ata.0.dev0.mode=PIO4
                        OK boot
                        Booting...
                        
                        

                        So I'd say you're good with that.

                        Steve

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • S
                          Steve Evans
                          last edited by

                          Thank you sir, you're a scholar and a gentleman!  :)

                          Your suggestion works a treat. I clearly had a bit of a mental block on what "devX" could be. I'd tried "0", but it hadn't occurred to me to used "dev0".  :-[ I'm clearly not familiar enough with FreeBSD naming conventions.

                          [code]ada0 at ata0 bus 0 scbus0 target 0 lun 0
                          ada0: <sandisk sdcfh-004g="" hdx="" 6.02="">CFA-0 device
                          ada0: Serial Number ABZ042211193008
                          ada0: 16.700MB/s transfers (PIO4, PIO 512bytes)
                          ada0: 3815MB (7813120 512 byte sectors: 16H 63S/T 7751C)
                          ada0: Previously was known as ad0
                          ada1 at ata0 bus 0 scbus0 target 1 lun 0
                          ada1: <st9402115a 3.01="">ATA-6 device
                          ada1: Serial Number 5PV09ZED
                          ada1: 100.000MB/s transfers (UDMA5, PIO 8192bytes)
                          ada1: 38154MB (78140160 512 byte sectors: 16H 63S/T 16383C)
                          ada1: Previously was known as ad1

                          I'm now getting the performance I need for my disk used for logs and caching.

                          diskinfo -tv /dev/ad1
                          /dev/ad1
                                  512             # sectorsize
                                  40007761920     # mediasize in bytes (37G)
                                  78140160        # mediasize in sectors
                                  0               # stripesize
                                  0               # stripeoffset
                                  77520           # Cylinders according to firmware.
                                  16              # Heads according to firmware.
                                  63              # Sectors according to firmware.
                                  5PV09ZED        # Disk ident.
                          
                          Seek times:
                                  Full stroke:      250 iter in   7.926598 sec =   31.706 msec
                                  Half stroke:      250 iter in   6.203416 sec =   24.814 msec
                                  Quarter stroke:   500 iter in   9.877891 sec =   19.756 msec
                                  Short forward:    400 iter in   3.476113 sec =    8.690 msec
                                  Short backward:   400 iter in   2.381591 sec =    5.954 msec
                                  Seq outer:       2048 iter in   0.197696 sec =    0.097 msec
                                  Seq inner:       2048 iter in   0.179296 sec =    0.088 msec
                          Transfer rates:
                                  outside:       102400 kbytes in   3.135350 sec =    32660 kbytes/sec
                                  middle:        102400 kbytes in   3.745807 sec =    27337 kbytes/sec
                                  inside:        102400 kbytes in   5.382397 sec =    19025 kbytes/sec
                          
                          

                          Steve</st9402115a></sandisk>

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

                            Nice! I'm going to have to try that sometime.  :)

                            Steve

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

                              In testing the HD issue I ran that benchmark. Thought my result might ammuse you:

                              [2.2-RELEASE][root@pfSense.localdomain]/root: diskinfo -tv /dev/ada0
                              /dev/ada0
                                      512             # sectorsize
                                      20003880960     # mediasize in bytes (19G)
                                      39070080        # mediasize in sectors
                                      0               # stripesize
                                      0               # stripeoffset
                                      38760           # Cylinders according to firmware.
                                      16              # Heads according to firmware.
                                      63              # Sectors according to firmware.
                                      32K60131T       # Disk ident.
                              
                              Seek times:
                                      Full stroke:      250 iter in  11.840086 sec =   47.360 msec
                                      Half stroke:      250 iter in   8.878876 sec =   35.516 msec
                                      Quarter stroke:   500 iter in  15.334866 sec =   30.670 msec
                                      Short forward:    400 iter in   8.639504 sec =   21.599 msec
                                      Short backward:   400 iter in   7.131472 sec =   17.829 msec
                                      Seq outer:       2048 iter in   0.282496 sec =    0.138 msec
                                      Seq inner:       2048 iter in   1.086055 sec =    0.530 msec
                              Transfer rates:
                                      outside:       102400 kbytes in  23.521335 sec =     4353 kbytes/sec
                                      middle:        102400 kbytes in  20.436978 sec =     5011 kbytes/sec
                                      inside:        102400 kbytes in  48.862760 sec =     2096 kbytes/sec
                              
                              

                              Something not right.  ::) Yet:

                              [2.2-RELEASE][root@pfSense.localdomain]/root: dmesg | grep ada
                              ada0 at ata0 bus 0 scbus0 target 0 lun 0
                              ada0: <toshiba mk2018gap="" m1.42="" a="">ATA-5 device
                              ada0: Serial Number 32K60131T
                              ada0: 100.000MB/s transfers (UDMA5, PIO 8192bytes)
                              ada0: 19077MB (39070080 512 byte sectors: 16H 63S/T 16383C)
                              ada0: Previously was known as ad0
                              Trying to mount root from ufs:/dev/ada0s1a [rw]...</toshiba> 
                              

                              Just a knackered old drive? Works fine though, as long as you're not in a hurry!

                              Steve

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • S
                                Steve Evans
                                last edited by

                                Ouch. Not much use as a cache though as it's no faster than fiber broadband!

                                Steve

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • M
                                  MacUsers
                                  last edited by

                                  @stephenw10:

                                  [2.2-RELEASE][root@pfSense.localdomain]/root: dmesg | grep ada
                                  ada0 at ata0 bus 0 scbus0 target 0 lun 0
                                  ada0: <toshiba mk2018gap="" m1.42="" a="">ATA-5 device
                                  ada0: Serial Number 32K60131T
                                  ada0: 100.000MB/s transfers (UDMA5, PIO 8192bytes)
                                  ada0: 19077MB (39070080 512 byte sectors: 16H 63S/T 16383C)
                                  ada0: Previously was known as ad0
                                  Trying to mount root from ufs:/dev/ada0s1a [rw]...</toshiba> 
                                  

                                  I was just looking in some old posts - Does it mean you have TRIM enabled on your TOSHIBA MK2018GAP drive?

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

                                    No. I'm pretty sure that device is way too old to support TRIM
                                    TRIM only applies to SSDs anyway.

                                    Steve

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • M
                                      MacUsers
                                      last edited by

                                      That's what I knew as well but this line in your dmesg:

                                      ada0: 100.000MB/s transfers (UDMA5, PIO 8192bytes)

                                      made me think otherwise.

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

                                        What part of that implies TRIM?
                                        That's the maximum speed on the interface, which is far, far faster than the drive can manage in this case.  ;)

                                        Steve

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • M
                                          MacUsers
                                          last edited by

                                          Nothing in particular, to be honest. I see Ultra ATA/33 on my x750e as opposed to ATA/100 on yours:

                                          [2.2.2-RELEASE][root@wg550.home]/root: dmesg|grep ada1
                                          ada1 at ata0 bus 0 scbus0 target 1 lun 0
                                          ada1: <toshiba mk4026gax="" pa102d=""> ATA-6 device
                                          ada1: Serial Number 65IF3453T
                                          ada1: 33.300MB/s transfers (UDMA2, PIO 8192bytes)
                                          ada1: 38154MB (78140160 512 byte sectors: 16H 63S/T 16383C)
                                          ada1: Previously was known as ad1</toshiba>
                                          

                                          It says ATA-6 device, so I was hoping to see UDMA5 in the next line but UDMA2 is the ATA-4, IIRC. I'm out of sys-admin business for while now, so may be talking rubbish as well.  ;)

                                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • M
                                            MacUsers
                                            last edited by

                                            On a separate note, a really silly question (maybe): Is it worth putting a SSD in in WatchGuard/pfSense? Apart from speedy-boot, what added benefit over an PATA drive?

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