10Gbit PFSense Router

System Error Message · August 14, 2017

when it comes to routing more ram bandwidth is used. This is because data is passed back and forth within the system before it is sent out again. Many here dont really know the link between ram bandwidth and routing performance. Mikrotik's CCR 1072 has charts that show the throughput under different ram speeds. Faster ram gives more throughput as the CCR1072 uses DDR3 and is capable of 80Gb/s throughput which reaches the limit of dual channel DDR3 bandwidth. Even though dual channel DDR3 may seem like it has ample bandwidth for 10Gb/s, it does improve the performance to have more especially because it has to send data to and from the ram and NIC cards too so just 10Gb/s can easily use up the dual channel DDR3 bandwidth.

7 minutes ago, Lurick said:

Have you checked out the Nexus 9K lineup recently?

Prices have come down quite a bit and performance has only gotten better. It might not be exactly on the nose with everyone else but it's far better than where it was.

I can't speak for the routing side of the house though as that isn't exactly my specialty. I tend to focus on Data Center and Security

Not gonna say Cisco is the greatest vendor for Price/Performance ratio but they are doing much better, even if it's only on switching.

Different in datacenter and switching. For switching purposes cisco is still good to consider even for the price. For routing though the good cisco is very expensive and cisco RVs are horrible things that smaller businesses and homes get caught up with when trying to get a router for vpn or security as it fails at both.

Lurick · August 14, 2017

Just now, System Error Message said:

Different in datacenter and switching. For switching purposes cisco is still good to consider even for the price. For routing though the good cisco is very expensive and cisco RVs are horrible things that smaller businesses and homes get caught up with when trying to get a router for vpn or security as it fails at both.

Yah, the small business stuff needs a huge overhaul and some of it I'm not even sure why we still sell it =/

Aelita Sophie · August 14, 2017

3 minutes ago, System Error Message said:

when it comes to routing more ram bandwidth is used. This is because data is passed back and forth within the system before it is sent out again. Many here dont really know the link between ram bandwidth and routing performance. Mikrotik's CCR 1072 has charts that show the throughput under different ram speeds. Faster ram gives more throughput as the CCR1072 uses DDR3 and is capable of 80Gb/s throughput which reaches the limit of dual channel DDR3 bandwidth. Even though dual channel DDR3 may seem like it has ample bandwidth for 10Gb/s, it does improve the performance to have more especially because it has to send data to and from the ram and NIC cards too so just 10Gb/s can easily use up the dual channel DDR3 bandwidth.

Different in datacenter and switching. For switching purposes cisco is still good to consider even for the price. For routing though the good cisco is very expensive and cisco RVs are horrible things that smaller businesses and homes get caught up with when trying to get a router for vpn or security as it fails at both.

So going on that, the Lower Powered Xeon E3-1220 V5 with Dual Channel DDR4 would be a better option then a high power 2x Xeon E5-2609 with Quad Channel DDR3? Because we are a bit unsure which would suit the job best.

System Error Message · August 14, 2017

6 minutes ago, Aelita Sophie said:

So going on that, the Lower Powered Xeon E3-1220 V5 with Dual Channel DDR4 would be a better option then a high power 2x Xeon E5-2609 with Quad Channel DDR3? Because we are a bit unsure which would suit the job best.

the quad channel DDR3 is faster. DDR4 does not have double the bandwidth of DDR3. Dual channel DDR4 is 20GB/s everytime i check from memtest. Using SPD speeds, as the frequency is increased, so does the timings. Infact the speed difference between DDR3 and DDR4 isnt much when both can have the same clocks (2Ghz-2.4Ghz).

Quad channel will handle the 80Gb/s bandwidth required for symmetrical 10Gb/s routing (10Gb/s to ram, ram to CPU, CPU to ram, ram to NIC totalling about 40Gb/s which is 5GB/s). This is if only basic routing is done. The more processing that is done the more bandwidth may be required. While dual channel ddr4 could run this the more ram bandwidth you can throw at it and ensuring there are sufficient PCIe lanes the better. With 2 xeons you effectively have 8 channels.

Aelita Sophie · August 14, 2017

3 minutes ago, System Error Message said:

the quad channel DDR3 is faster. DDR4 does not have double the bandwidth of DDR3. Dual channel DDR4 is 20GB/s everytime i check from memtest. Using SPD speeds, as the frequency is increased, so does the timings. Infact the speed difference between DDR3 and DDR4 isnt much when both can have the same clocks (2Ghz-2.4Ghz).

Quad channel will handle the 80Gb/s bandwidth required for symmetrical 10Gb/s routing (10Gb/s to ram, ram to CPU, CPU to ram, ram to NIC totalling about 40Gb/s which is 5GB/s). This is if only basic routing is done. The more processing that is done the more bandwidth may be required. While dual channel ddr4 could run this the more ram bandwidth you can throw at it and ensuring there are sufficient PCIe lanes the better. With 2 xeons you effectively have 8 channels.

So then out of the 2 options, the Dell R620 with 2x E5-2609 and 64GB DDR3 would be the best option then. Granted if we evenly place the RAM over the slots for effectively 8 channels. Do I understand that correct?

System Error Message · August 14, 2017

Just now, Aelita Sophie said:

So then out of the 2 options, the Dell R620 with 2x E5-2609 and 64GB DDR3 would be the best option then. Granted if we evenly place the RAM over the slots for effectively 8 channels. Do I understand that correct?

that is correct