PF 11.1 / ALTQ / pf / ixgbe

S

scorpion7

All,

Any update as to whether ALTQ (with PF) will be supported with ixgbe cards (or not)? Have been hoping that some traction may have been gained, but haven't been able to use this functionality for quite a few versions. FYI - the manual page for ALTQ lists ixgbe as "supported", but get the infamous "driver does not support altq". May be open to considering an alternative NIC (thats dual port 10G/fiber) provided:

A) that the price isn't excessive - as these cards in dual port format (X520-DA2) are fairly reasonable in price to move to 10G networking (+/- $150) - and -
B) that the card is supported via ALTQ/pf using the standard/native driver. Concerned that the ixgbe is listed as supported, but doesn't "work out of the box" (kernel re-compile to enable ALTQ is accepted as required)

Thanks!
 
This site has some advanced information:
https://bsdrp.net/documentation/technical_docs/performance
They show the Chelsio are better than Intel from my reading.
Nice hard numbers. It is why I chose Chelsio. They also show that IPFW beats pf.

For igb and ixgb they show "needs IGB_LEGACY_TX"
Have you tried that?
Compiling a kernel takes about 30-60 minutes. It really is easy and the handbook is spot on.
Make a ALTQ kernel. It is really easy.
 
Hoping that, at some point, ALTQ comes back into support - particularly HFSC. Just seems odd that ALTQ hasn't flourished for newer NICs. Faster/larger/newer pipes does not negate the need to get traffic through in a prioritized fashion.
 
As far as I know the focus is on getting other traffic shaping solutions on the table, ALTQ is considered outdated and deprecated especially on faster networks.
 
+1 scorpion7 :)
As a long time FreeBSD/pf user, I find it very frustrating the way they've gone about disabling ALTQ support -- it's a punishment for using newer hardware.

FWIW- I was experimenting today with trying to get my ix interfaces working with ALTQ. After reviewing the source code, I found my way to the `hw.ix.enable_legacy_tx` which looked really promising, as if the driver maintainer had given me something I could use in /boot/loader.conf. Unfortunately, the kernel (11.2-RELEASE) panicked on boot with this enabled:
Screen Shot 2018-11-13 at 4.35.01 PM.png

I tried fiddling with the other hw.ix tunables to make sure I wasn't using conflicting settings or something, but it failed in all cases. :(

What did you end up doing on this thread? Did you get a new NIC?
 
Unfortunately or fortunately haven’t done anything yet. Tried a bit with some of what was presented, but simply looks to be unsustainable long term. Not to mention remote site logistics. Was hoping that given some time that a solution for PF and queueing would come available. Increased speed doesn’t alleviate need - congestion continues, just at a faster speed. Being able to apply things like HFSC so that streams appear even, despite consumption of pipe. Understand the increased complexities of network subsystem changes, but neither that nor increased speeds alleviate needs to retain consistent experience across users, services, etc. A couple streams consuming pipe when all should be even - remains an issue. Switching firewall platform (PF specific integrations) would be problematic. Thus, if a change becomes necessary, may be forced to consider appliance and/or commercial options. So hoping that holding off until absolutely forced to address, gives the devs a chance to figure out and implement replacement solution. Can’t see how “no queueing” is viable in numerous use cases. Absolutely despise the idea of moving from FreeBSD and PF to something else. Between sites and integrations.....
 
ddlux said:
+1 scorpion7 :)
As a long time FreeBSD/pf user, I find it very frustrating the way they've gone about disabling ALTQ support -- it's a punishment for using newer hardware.

FWIW- I was experimenting today with trying to get my ix interfaces working with ALTQ. After reviewing the source code, I found my way to the `hw.ix.enable_legacy_tx` which looked really promising, as if the driver maintainer had given me something I could use in /boot/loader.conf. Unfortunately, the kernel (11.2-RELEASE) panicked on boot with this enabled:
View attachment 5527
I tried fiddling with the other hw.ix tunables to make sure I wasn't using conflicting settings or something, but it failed in all cases. :(

What did you end up doing on this thread? Did you get a new NIC?
Click to expand...
And for reference doesn’t appear to be “NIC specific” when we’re talking anything that’s 1/10Gbps or 10Gbps+. Looks like <=1Gbps drivers continue based on legacy drivers. Newer drivers rely on processing across multiple cores/queues to achieve throughout. Which is central to the problem. The “streams” are inherently ‘spread’ out making the ability to apply ALTQ an absolute nightmare.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top