2.5Gbps NICs only getting 1.5Gbps
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This doesn't appear to be a pfSense thing. I've switched over to Windows and am getting the same speed results. So far the advice I've received from HUNSN is to enable Turbo, but Turbo is enabled by default so it isn't that. I'll update this thread if I get it solved or if anyone has experience with these units or has any idea what BIOS modifications to try, please let me know.
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Something in the way it's connected? PCIe bus using enough channels?
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@stephenw10 The connections are about as simple as it comes. Right now it's just a PC with a 10Gbe nic plugged directly into the HUNSN box with a CAT6 cable. Link speed is 2.5Gbps. Still just getting the 1.59Gbps speeds in iperf. Using pfSense it was 2 PCs connected to 2 ports on the HUNSN running iperf on each of the boxes. Still just 1.59Gbps.
With the 2 PCs connected directly to each other they link up at 10Gbps and I get iperf around 8Gbps.
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Sorry I meant how they're connected internally. Looks like the n100 doesn't have any NIC on the SoC so I assume they are PCIe connected. Though even 1 channel of PCIev1 should pass more than 1.5Gbps....
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Please provide output of those commands
pciconf -lcv igc0 pciconf -lcv igc1 pciconf -lcv igc2 pciconf -lcv igc3 pciconf -lcv igc4 -
@w0w I sure wish these had console ports. I'll try to type them out.
igc0@pci0:1:0: class=0x020000 rev=0x04 hdr=0x00 vendor=0x8086 device=0x125c subvendor=0x08086 subdevice=0x0000
vendor = 'Intel Corporation'
device = 'Ethernet Controller'
class = network
subclass = ethernet
cap 01[40] = powerspec 3 supports D0 D3 current D0
cap 05[50] = MSI supports 1 message, 64 bit, vector masks
cap 11[70] = MSI-X supports 5 messages, enabled. Table in map 0x1c[0x0], PBA in map 0x1c[0x2000]
cap 10[a0] = PCI-Express 2 endpoint max data 256(512) FLR RO NS
Max Read 512
link x1(x1) speed 2.5(5.0) ASPM disabled (L1)
ecap 0001[100] = AER 2 0 fatal 1 non-fatal 1 corrected
ecap 0003[140] = Serial 1 00e259ffff005232
ecap 0018[1c0] = LTR 1
ecap 001f[1f0] = Precision Time Measurement 1
ecap 001e[1e0] = L1 PM Substates 1igc1@pci0:2:0: class=0x020000 rev=0x04 hdr=0x00 vendor=0x8086 device=0x125c subvendor=0x08086 subdevice=0x0000
vendor = 'Intel Corporation'
device = 'Ethernet Controller'
class = network
subclass = ethernet
cap 01[40] = powerspec 3 supports D0 D3 current D0
cap 05[50] = MSI supports 1 message, 64 bit, vector masks
cap 11[70] = MSI-X supports 5 messages, enabled. Table in map 0x1c[0x0], PBA in map 0x1c[0x2000]
cap 10[a0] = PCI-Express 2 endpoint max data 256(512) FLR RO NS
Max Read 512
link x1(x1) speed 2.5(5.0) ASPM disabled (L1)
ecap 0001[100] = AER 2 0 fatal 1 non-fatal 1 corrected
ecap 0003[140] = Serial 1 00e259ffff005233
ecap 0018[1c0] = LTR 1
ecap 001f[1f0] = Precision Time Measurement 1
ecap 001e[1e0] = L1 PM Substates 1igc2@pci0:3:0: class=0x020000 rev=0x04 hdr=0x00 vendor=0x8086 device=0x125c subvendor=0x08086 subdevice=0x0000
vendor = 'Intel Corporation'
device = 'Ethernet Controller'
class = network
subclass = ethernet
cap 01[40] = powerspec 3 supports D0 D3 current D0
cap 05[50] = MSI supports 1 message, 64 bit, vector masks
cap 11[70] = MSI-X supports 5 messages, enabled. Table in map 0x1c[0x0], PBA in map 0x1c[0x2000]
cap 10[a0] = PCI-Express 2 endpoint max data 256(512) FLR RO NS
Max Read 512
link x1(x1) speed 5.0(5.0) ASPM disabled (L1)
ecap 0001[100] = AER 2 0 fatal 1 non-fatal 1 corrected
ecap 0003[140] = Serial 1 00e259ffff005234
ecap 0018[1c0] = LTR 1
ecap 001f[1f0] = Precision Time Measurement 1
ecap 001e[1e0] = L1 PM Substates 1igc3@pci0:1:0: class=0x020000 rev=0x04 hdr=0x00 vendor=0x8086 device=0x125c subvendor=0x08086 subdevice=0x0000
vendor = 'Intel Corporation'
device = 'Ethernet Controller'
class = network
subclass = ethernet
cap 01[40] = powerspec 3 supports D0 D3 current D0
cap 05[50] = MSI supports 1 message, 64 bit, vector masks
cap 11[70] = MSI-X supports 5 messages, enabled. Table in map 0x1c[0x0], PBA in map 0x1c[0x2000]
cap 10[a0] = PCI-Express 2 endpoint max data 256(512) FLR RO NS
Max Read 512
link x1(x1) speed 5.0(5.0) ASPM disabled (L1)
ecap 0001[100] = AER 2 0 fatal 1 non-fatal 1 corrected
ecap 0003[140] = Serial 1 00e259ffff005235
ecap 0018[1c0] = LTR 1
ecap 001f[1f0] = Precision Time Measurement 1
ecap 001e[1e0] = L1 PM Substates 1igc4@pci0:5:0: class=0x020000 rev=0x04 hdr=0x00 vendor=0x8086 device=0x125c subvendor=0x08086 subdevice=0x0000
vendor = 'Intel Corporation'
device = 'Ethernet Controller'
class = network
subclass = ethernet
cap 01[40] = powerspec 3 supports D0 D3 current D0
cap 05[50] = MSI supports 1 message, 64 bit, vector masks
cap 11[70] = MSI-X supports 5 messages, enabled. Table in map 0x1c[0x0], PBA in map 0x1c[0x2000]
cap 10[a0] = PCI-Express 2 endpoint max data 256(512) FLR RO NS
Max Read 512
link x1(x1) speed 5.0(5.0) ASPM disabled (L1)
ecap 0001[100] = AER 2 0 fatal 1 non-fatal 1 corrected
ecap 0003[140] = Serial 1 00e259ffff005236
ecap 0018[1c0] = LTR 1
ecap 001f[1f0] = Precision Time Measurement 1
ecap 001e[1e0] = L1 PM Substates 1 -
You can copy/paste that out of an SSH session.
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@Stewart
Three ports are full speed pcie 5Gbit/s and two are only 2.5Gbit/s.
You need to find out what ports are 5Gbit and re-test only using those ports.
For me, it looks like some hardware limitation. I can only suppose, that those two ports with 2.5 speed are using some pcie hub, not CPU one, but some external. -
@stephenw10 I suppose I could have. Our tech benches are currently full and I'm setting this up in the conference room to give me space. I don't really have all the same amenities over there.
@w0w I think you've hit the nail on the head. And since I was flipping the unit over and back to swap between Windows and pfSense I must have been confused which port was which when I was programming them. All the going back and forth is what made go from consistent to inconsistent. I guess I just didn't track well enough.
igc0 - link x1(x1) speed 2.5(5.0) ASPM disabled (L1)
igc1 - link x1(x1) speed 2.5(5.0) ASPM disabled (L1)
igc2 - link x1(x1) speed 5.0(5.0) ASPM disabled (L1)
igc3 – link x1(x1) speed 5.0(5.0) ASPM disabled (L1)
igc4 – link x1(x1) speed 5.0(5.0) ASPM disabled (L1) -
@Stewart I've been in communication with HUNSN and they have sent me a BIOS update. I'll report back when I get a chance to install it.
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@Stewart The new BIOS fixed the issue so now all 5 ports run at 2.5Gbe. It also sets much higher default PL1, PL2, and PL4 settings. The temps still stay in normal parameters but isn't the most efficient. I've run 17 different combinations of PL1 and PL2 with the default PL4 of 33W to find the best speed and then started adjusting PL4 to fine tune. Maybe not the best way of doing it but that was my process. Overall I found the best combination of speed and power for iperf over OpenVPN is:
PL1=9
PL2=10
PL4=30Dropping PL1 to 8 impacts performance about 60Mbps but doesn't reduce heat or power.
Dropping PL2 to 8 also reduces performance but doesn't reduce heat or power.
PL4 default is now 33. Lowering it to 30 reduces temps from 69C to 61-62C and lowers speed from 575Mbps to 550Mbps. Lowering it to 29 reduces speed to 490 and keeps temp at 61C so no real change.Temp was determined by running iperf -P4 -t 300 and seeing what the temp was just before the end of the run. Everything seemed to idle the same no matter what the settings were at around 45C. Skin of the unit is always warm to the touch. I have a thermometer that I've set on top that generally reads 33C-34C (around 95F). It also doesn't seem to change much whether it is idle or under heavy load. The unit idles around 11W no matter the settings and, depending on PL settings, only goes up to 15-18W (most all settings showed 15W as the load limit for the iperf tests). For reference it does spike into the mid-20's in Windows.
Speed was determined by the average of the last 10 seconds of the 5 minute test. I felt that I had to do this as the tests generally started out very high, in the 1.2Gbps-1.4Gbps range, and then fell over the course of the first minute to settle around the 5 minute average. Sometimes it would hold that for 5-10 seconds, some times for over 40 seconds. No idea unless it's some kind of TAU setting allowing the assigned core to spike for varying amounts of times.
