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    Network port splitting ??

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved General pfSense Questions
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    • _Adrian__
      _Adrian_
      last edited by

      Is there a way to split a single high speed port into 4 lower speed ports ?

      Such as a single 40GB link into 4x 10 GB links or a 100GB port into 4x 25gb link ??
      I know that most datacenter centric network cards and switches support it in hardware form but also back by software... but unsure about pfSense and I'm not even sure what the correct term would be as well as trunking would be the closest but also only refers to a single link carrying multiple tagged vlans where as mine is physically separating a single port into 4 physical links.

      Does anyone have any insight ??

      If it ain't broken, fix it till it is :P

      NogBadTheBadN J 3 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • NogBadTheBadN
        NogBadTheBad @_Adrian_
        last edited by

        This post is deleted!
        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • J
          Jarhead @_Adrian_
          last edited by

          @_adrian_ What you're referring to is called a multiplexer, or mux for short.
          pfSense can't do that.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • NogBadTheBadN
            NogBadTheBad @_Adrian_
            last edited by NogBadTheBad

            @_adrian_ Are you saying your pfSense box has a 40Gb interface or 4 x 10Gb ?

            You can get these, if pfSense / FreeBSD support them it's an entirely different matter.

            https://www.fs.com/uk/products/30827.html

            Screenshot 2022-08-11 at 12.40.37.png

            _Adrian__ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • _Adrian__
              _Adrian_ @NogBadTheBad
              last edited by

              I'm running a HP DL320e with a Xeon E3-1280v3, 16GB of RAM with a Boradcom N20KJ thats been modified to accept a 2.5GB SFP+ that my ISP is using as the ONT ( Optical Network Terminal ) while on thr network side i have a Mellanox MCX416A-CCAT which is a dual port 100GB card...
              I was trying to see if there was a way to "mux" those ports and gain a multitude ( 8x 25GB ) of high speed links

              If it ain't broken, fix it till it is :P

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

                pfSense would need to see it as separate NICs. The Mellenox NICs can do some unusual things...so...maybe. I've never seen it done. Some firmware setting perhaps.
                You won't pass 25Gbps though. You'd be better trying to get 10GbE interfaces out of it.

                Steve

                _Adrian__ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • _Adrian__
                  _Adrian_ @stephenw10
                  last edited by

                  @stephenw10

                  Im looking at this switch USW-Pro-Aggregation as my top of rack switch followed by a USW-Pro-48-PoE.

                  This way all my gaming and streaming gear is on a high speed network while my typical users ( voip, ap, security cameras) can ride the gigabit ports on the tier below.

                  If it ain't broken, fix it till it is :P

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

                    Ok, well having never run a 25G link in pfSense I can't really recommend any NICs for that. You're welcome to try though. 😉

                    _Adrian__ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • _Adrian__
                      _Adrian_ @stephenw10
                      last edited by

                      @stephenw10 i will definitely attempt it once my main switch arrives. I am using a mellanox branded 2M DAC cable. I really need to do some home work, but figured someone here has tried it before so it was worth a shot in the dark

                      If it ain't broken, fix it till it is :P

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

                        I'm sure someone has. We occasionally get questions about it but I'm not sure a report of success.
                        Let me check....

                        Mmm, there are NICs supported by bnxt(4) and ice(4) for example but I'm not seeing any reports of 100% success. There are VLAN issues in the current bnxt driver for example.

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                        • _Adrian__
                          _Adrian_ @_Adrian_
                          last edited by _Adrian_

                          @stephenw10 That in a way is good news as I'm not planning to run VLANS lol

                          If it ain't broken, fix it till it is :P

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

                            If you have any choice I'd probably look at one of the Intel 800 series NICs supported by the ice(4) driver:
                            https://github.com/pfsense/FreeBSD-src/blob/devel-12/sys/dev/ice/ice_common.c#L57

                            Even if it's not supported now it's likely to be the best supported hardware in FreeBSD.

                            But if you have the Mellanox NIC already you may as well test it.

                            Steve

                            _Adrian__ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • _Adrian__
                              _Adrian_ @stephenw10
                              last edited by

                              @stephenw10 heres the Nvidia support site for the mellanox card ( which is now owned by Nvidia )

                              I mean worse case and scenario I can always bump it down to 25Gbps and use active failover from my pfsense box to my main switch.

                              If it ain't broken, fix it till it is :P

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

                                That card appears to be supported:
                                https://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=mlx5en&sektion=4&apropos=0&manpath=FreeBSD+12.3-stable#HARDWARE
                                I've just never seen anyone attempt to use it with pfSense directly.

                                _Adrian__ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • _Adrian__
                                  _Adrian_ @stephenw10
                                  last edited by

                                  @stephenw10 well... here goes nothing lol

                                  If it ain't broken, fix it till it is :P

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

                                    🤞

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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