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

    SG-5100 open vpn speeds

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Official Netgate® Hardware
    18 Posts 5 Posters 3.6k 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.
    • L
      Larrikin
      last edited by

      One of the variables though is the capacity of the CPU and AES-NI enabled. What is the theoretical limit based on the CPU? I understand all the other network conditions can impact it - but that's not my question. What is the limitation of the CPU?

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • DerelictD
        Derelict LAYER 8 Netgate
        last edited by

        The table you have is what is available.

        Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA
        A comprehensive network diagram is worth 10,000 words and 15 conference calls.
        DO NOT set a source address/port in a port forward or firewall rule unless you KNOW you need it!
        Do Not Chat For Help! NO_WAN_EGRESS(TM)

        L 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • L
          Larrikin @Derelict
          last edited by

          @derelict The table doesn't answer the question with AES-NI enabled. So basically Netgate are selling a box that can't tell me what the CPU limitations are with a VPN with AES-NI enabled for OpenVPN?

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • DerelictD
            Derelict LAYER 8 Netgate
            last edited by

            AES-NI is going to do very little for OpenVPN. OpenVPN spends most of its time context switching between user and kernel modes, not performing encryption.

            Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA
            A comprehensive network diagram is worth 10,000 words and 15 conference calls.
            DO NOT set a source address/port in a port forward or firewall rule unless you KNOW you need it!
            Do Not Chat For Help! NO_WAN_EGRESS(TM)

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • L
              Larrikin
              last edited by

              Crickey - so there really isn't anything that does 100mbps or gigabit VPN other than building my own PC with a decent CPU?

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • DerelictD
                Derelict LAYER 8 Netgate
                last edited by Derelict

                The SG-5100 has a decent CPU. It's a 2.2GHz Denverton. But, yeah, for OpenVPN, single-core performance is what you seek as the code stands right now. I would expect the SG-5100 to be able to do better than 100Mbps OpenVPN if there isn't anything else (latency, the VPN provider, etc) slowing it down. But as I said, there are lots of factors in play.

                Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA
                A comprehensive network diagram is worth 10,000 words and 15 conference calls.
                DO NOT set a source address/port in a port forward or firewall rule unless you KNOW you need it!
                Do Not Chat For Help! NO_WAN_EGRESS(TM)

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • RicoR
                  Rico LAYER 8 Rebel Alliance
                  last edited by

                  My XG-7100 does around 280 MBit/s AES-256-GCM per OpenVPN Instance/Core and got the same CPU then the SG-5100 as far as I know.
                  Just for your reference point.

                  -Rico

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                  • JeGrJ
                    JeGr LAYER 8 Moderator
                    last edited by

                    For what it's worth and because this thread got pointed out to me multiple times now as "source", the SG-5100 (and another device with the same SOC, Atom C3558) has quite more punch as ~250-300Mbps.

                    Netgate itself states on its product page, that they measured it with current pfSense versions >2.4.4+ with AES-128-GCM setup (either OpenVPN[!] or IPSEC) at around 475Mbps with pf enabled.

                    As we currently have one device with similar hardware/SOC to spare and test with, we put it to test ourselves and got very very similar numbers with various settings of OpenVPN and IPSEC. Especially with GCM we got almost consistent values with IPerf checks at around 465-470Mbps, so if someone plans to bring it to bear with WAN uplinks at around 200-400Mbps you can go fully encrypted easily with IPSec or OpenVPN and using AES-256-GCM/SHA256 or AES-256-GCM/SHA384. Always depends on the payload and usage of course, but as an "educated guess", it will bring you almost up to 500Mbps with encryption. That's a great deal.

                    Don't forget to upvote 👍 those who kindly offered their time and brainpower to help you!

                    If you're interested, I'm available to discuss details of German-speaking paid support (for companies) if needed.

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                    • L
                      Larrikin
                      last edited by

                      @jegr said in SG-5100 open vpn speeds:

                      Netgate itself states on its product page, that they measured it with current pfSense versions >2.4.4+ with AES-128-GCM setup (either OpenVPN[!] or IPSEC) at around 475Mbps with pf enabled.

                      What is "pf enabled"? Do you mean PD as in Power D, or something else?

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • JeGrJ
                        JeGr LAYER 8 Moderator
                        last edited by

                        Nope, I was referring to the measurements from the Netgate Blog:
                        https://www.netgate.com/blog/sg-5100-desktop-available-for-pre-order.html
                        it was measured with pf (Package Filter - filtering) enabled and disabled.

                        We only took measures with pf enabled as we run the device as full firewall and not routing only. So just as a side note should if the question comes up if something was disabled that could have lessen the performance impact.

                        Don't forget to upvote 👍 those who kindly offered their time and brainpower to help you!

                        If you're interested, I'm available to discuss details of German-speaking paid support (for companies) if needed.

                        L 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • DerelictD
                          Derelict LAYER 8 Netgate
                          last edited by

                          No. Disabling pf means disabling all firewall functions:

                          pfctl -d Disables
                          pfctl -e Enables

                          Or this:

                          System > Advanced, Firewall & NAT

                          0_1551201684950_Screen Shot 2019-02-26 at 9.20.51 AM.png

                          Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA
                          A comprehensive network diagram is worth 10,000 words and 15 conference calls.
                          DO NOT set a source address/port in a port forward or firewall rule unless you KNOW you need it!
                          Do Not Chat For Help! NO_WAN_EGRESS(TM)

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • L
                            Larrikin @JeGr
                            last edited by

                            @jegr said in SG-5100 open vpn speeds:

                            Nope, I was referring to the measurements from the Netgate Blog:
                            https://www.netgate.com/blog/sg-5100-desktop-available-for-pre-order.html
                            it was measured with pf (Package Filter - filtering) enabled and disabled.

                            We only took measures with pf enabled as we run the device as full firewall and not routing only. So just as a side note should if the question comes up if something was disabled that could have lessen the performance impact.

                            OK got it. Quite a powerful box then. Just a shame its AUD$1400 in my country and makes it unviable to purchase :(

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