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

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Hardware
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    • S
      sg1
      last edited by

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

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      • 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

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        • 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

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          • 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.

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            • 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

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              • 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

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                • 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?

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                  • 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

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                    • 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

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                      • 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>

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                        • stephenw10S
                          stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                          last edited by

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

                          Steve

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                          • 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

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                            • S
                              Steve Evans
                              last edited by

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

                              Steve

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                              • 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?

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                                • 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

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                                  • 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.

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                                    • 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

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                                      • 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.  ;)

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                                        • 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?

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                                          • ?
                                            Guest
                                            last edited by

                                            @MacUsers:

                                            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?

                                            There are many IDE SSDs out to install inside and I really would go more with a SSD
                                            rather then a IDE HDD because of less power, faster and not so hot.

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