Config tuning after server move.

[TomT]

Hi.
I've moved my config from an AMD GX-420CA system to an Intel N100 system, apart from updating the temperature sensors and adding the following tuneables, is there anything else I need to update or change to get the max performance out of this ?

net.isr.dispatch: deferred
net.isr.bindthreads: 1
net.isr.maxthreads: -1
net.inet.rss.bits: 2
net.inet.rss.enabled: 1

Speedtests seem good, may be 20/30Mbps slower than the ISP router.
Any tips for tweaking the last bit out of the connection ?

I have IPSec and WireGuard VPNs configured, do I need to do anything else for them ?

In plugins I have two entries in red.
os-realtek-re (missing)
os-udpbroadcastrelay (missing)

I don't need either of those, how do I clear the red entries ?

Thanks

[TomT]

I've still got powerd enabled, should it be for an Intel N100 ?
If I have to disable it, is there anything else I need to enable or configure?
Thanks

[newsense]

This is a must for N100 and later CPUs, reboot after installation.

Code Select Expand

pkg install os-cpu-microcode-intel-1.1
You can fix the missing plugins in the Firmware section.

[pouakai]

I ended up disabling PowerD on an N100 and used this post:

Do I need to enable PowerD

Note that the thread mixes up SpeedStep and Speed Shift in a few places!  I think this is the right way around:

SpeedStep is the "old" method - needs PowerD.
Speed Shift is the new method and its available since 6th Gen of Intel CPUs (I think) - doesn't need PowerD.

[TomT]

This is a must for N100 and later CPUs, reboot after installation.

Code Select Expand

pkg install os-cpu-microcode-intel-1.1
You can fix the missing plugins in the Firmware section.

Thanks I'll install that and reboot.

I ran the plugin conflict checker which install the kissing plugins. I then uninstalled them as they aren't needed.

[TomT]

I ended up disabling PowerD on an N100 and used this post:

Do I need to enable PowerD

Note that the thread mixes up SpeedStep and Speed Shift in a few places!  I think this is the right way around:

SpeedStep is the "old" method - needs PowerD.
Speed Shift is the new method and its available since 6th Gen of Intel CPUs (I think) - doesn't need PowerD.

Thanks is this as simple as disabling PowerD or do tuneables ned setting?
Thanks

[Seimus]

Disable PowerD.

The N100 has on by default all enabled on FreeBSD, you can check your LOG if is really the case. If yes PowerD does not control the CPU anymore.

Regards,
S.

[TomT]

Thanks,

I've disabled PowerD is there anything specific I need to check in the logs ?

Does System: Settings: Miscellaneous:  Hardware acceleration need enabling ? if it does, is that Intel Quick Assist ?

Thanks

[TomT]

Everything seems to be running ok.
Reading another blog there are suggestions for the following tuneables.

hw.ibrs_disable = 1
net.inet.ip.intr_queue_maxlen = 3000
hw.igc.max_interrupt_rate = 20000
hw.igc.rx_process_limit = 5000

Are these worth doing, will they help me get similar speeds to my ISPs router ?
Thanks

[meyergru]

Since you use PPPoE: Did you optimize your MTU? 20-30 Mbps less with 900 MBps theoretical limit means 2% lesser throughput. If your MTU is not optimized to yield 1500 bytes after PPPoE and VLAN overhead, speed may decrease even (or especially) if you clamp your MSS to counter other problems.

See point 9 here.

Also, you can try traffic shaping (see official docs).

[TomT]

Since you use PPPoE: Did you optimize your MTU? 20-30 Mbps less with 900 MBps theoretical limit means 2% lesser throughput. If your MTU is not optimized to yield 1500 bytes after PPPoE and VLAN overhead, speed may decrease even (or especially) if you clamp your MSS to counter other problems.

See point 9 here.

Also, you can try traffic shaping (see official docs).

Thanks.
I've run the mtu.sh script and it recommended 1484
Looking in the GUI the MTU was set to 1492 ( Calculated PPP MTU: 1484 )

Does that mean I need to change it ?

Thanks

[meyergru]

1. You have to set the MTU to a value <= your possible MTU, or you will have problems with sites without PMTU discovery.
2. To optimize that, it should be = your possible MTU.
3. With some hardware setups and ISPs, you can use even more than 1500 bytes on the underlying physical link, thus giving you again 1500 bytes even with PPPoE and / or VLANs in use, which overheads would normally have to be deducted from the physical link's MTU (often 1500).

To reiterate on #3, I gave detailed instructions here: https://forum.opnsense.org/index.php?topic=44271.msg220936#msg220936, this was linked in my instructions under point #9 already.

[TomT]

1. You have to set the MTU to a value <= your possible MTU, or you will have problems with sites without PMTU discovery.
2. To optimize that, it should be = your possible MTU.
3. With some hardware setups and ISPs, you can use even more than 1500 bytes on the underlying physical link, thus giving you again 1500 bytes even with PPPoE and / or VLANs in use, which overheads would normally have to be deducted from the physical link's MTU (often 1500).

To reiterate on #3, I gave detailed instructions here: https://forum.opnsense.org/index.php?topic=44271.msg220936#msg220936, this was linked in my instructions under point #9 already.

Please correct me on this.. Should my MTU be set to 1500, so the calculated will then be 1492 ?
I've never understood how this is meant to work.

Thanks

[meyergru]

I don't really know what to tell you beyond what I already said or linked any more.

You have to set your WAN MTU at a maximum of what actually is possible (mtu.sh can tell you what that is) - otherwise you will see real problems sooner or later. Probably, you can make something more than 14xx Bytes available by enlarging the MTU (to, say, 1512 bytes) of the underlying layers of your internet connection in order to optimize the payload/gap ratio (that depends on if your ISP can do it and your particular hardware). You may be able to get a net 1500 bytes MTU over the WAN interface.

Detailed instructions on how to do that have been given. If you want to get the last 2% speed, you will have to experiment with the MTUs (yes - there are multiple of them, on different layers) yourself.

[TomT]

Thanks again.

My confusion is related to what I set vs what is computed.
If I enter the value from the MTU script, that makes the computed a lower value.

Should the WAN MTU be the script value, or should the computed value be the script value ?

Thanks