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    High CPU load on Soekris 6501 (1GHz Atom)

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Hardware
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    • K
      knakkergaard
      last edited by

      Hey,

      I've just installed a Soekris 6501 at a school with 80 students and 50 Mbit, but I am surprised over the high CPU-usage (See image). The router runs Captive Portal and a few firewall rules and Squid Guard for blocking Facebook.

      The plan was also to install Snort for detection of P2P,  but it seems that there is no more CPU power left to handle that?

      System Activity:
      10 root    171 ki31    0K    8K RUN    72.0H 15.97% idle
      11 root    -68    -    0K  200K RUN    648:27 11.96% {irq262: em2:rx 0}
      11 root    -68    -    0K  200K WAIT  619:27 10.99% {irq256: em0:rx 0}
      21206 proxy    49    0 50304K 45104K kqread 354:06  5.96% squid
      8338 proxy    47    0  6348K  3388K sbwait 169:03  2.98% squidGuard
      3446 root      76    0 53668K 19196K piperd  0:28  1.95% php
      13 root    -16    -    0K    8K -      57:06  0.00% yarrow
      8619 proxy    45    0  6348K  3388K sbwait  46:51  0.00% squidGuard
      11 root    -68    -    0K  200K WAIT    33:33  0.00% {irq263: em2:tx 0}
      11 root    -68    -    0K  200K WAIT    27:32  0.00% {irq257: em0:tx 0}
      8764 proxy    44    0  6348K  3388K sbwait  21:51  0.00% squidGuard
      11 root    -32    -    0K  200K WAIT    21:47  0.00% {swi4: clock}
      55244 nobody    44    0  5556K  2880K select  20:00  0.00% dnsmasq
      17366 root      44    0  4944K  2536K select  11:41  0.00% syslogd
      20 root      44    -    0K    8K syncer  10:39  0.00% syncer
      0 root    -68    0    0K  120K -        7:55  0.00% {dummynet}
      61752 root      76  20  3656K  1452K piperd  6:21  0.00% sh
      11 root    -68    -    0K  200K WAIT    5:33  0.00% {irq259: em1:rx 0}

      rdd1.png
      rdd1.png_thumb

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      • jimpJ
        jimp Rebel Alliance Developer Netgate
        last edited by

        Try running that top command at the console and make sure no other browser windows are open to the GUI at the time. I only get ~34% by adding up the numbers I see there, 50% if you count the idle process. 50% seems a bit fishy.

        Make sure your BIOS is up to date on the Soekris as well, if it was you should be seeing two CPUs (hyperthreading)

        The throughput of any such device is going to be dramatically reduced by the presence of squid and snort though.

        Remember: Upvote with the 👍 button for any user/post you find to be helpful, informative, or deserving of recognition!

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        • K
          knakkergaard
          last edited by

          Thx for answer.

          Unfortunately, the Soekris Net 6501 is only a single core.

          To conclude, you would not recommend me running Snort with P2P rules?

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          • jimpJ
            jimp Rebel Alliance Developer Netgate
            last edited by

            I have a net6501, it is a single core but it runs with hyperthreading so the OS should see two. I suspect you have an old BIOS with a broken MP table.

            The most recent BIOS for the net6501 is v1.41a ( http://soekris.com/downloads.html )

            Remember: Upvote with the 👍 button for any user/post you find to be helpful, informative, or deserving of recognition!

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            Do not Chat/PM for help!

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            • K
              knakkergaard
              last edited by

              OK. Then I need to reinstall pfsense with the dualcore function?

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • W
                wallabybob
                last edited by

                @knakkergaard:

                OK. Then I need to reinstall pfsense with the dualcore function?

                That will upgrade the BIOS? :-)

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                • K
                  knakkergaard
                  last edited by

                  Of course not :) Will Pfsense discover the "extra" CPU by itself?

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • W
                    wallabybob
                    last edited by

                    @knakkergaard:

                    Will Pfsense discover the "extra" CPU by itself?

                    It is some years since I looked at the relevant code but my strong recollection is that FreeBSD "discovers" only the CPUs listed in the ACPI tables (if present) or the MPTABLE (if present).

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                    • jimpJ
                      jimp Rebel Alliance Developer Netgate
                      last edited by

                      Just upgrade the BIOS and it'll come up after you reboot. No need to reinstall.

                      Remember: Upvote with the 👍 button for any user/post you find to be helpful, informative, or deserving of recognition!

                      Need help fast? Netgate Global Support!

                      Do not Chat/PM for help!

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