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Date:      Wed, 17 Dec 2014 21:15:11 -0600
From:      Jim Thompson <jim@netgate.com>
To:        Mario Lobo <lobo@bsd.com.br>
Cc:        freebsd-pf@FreeBSD.org
Subject:   Re: Alternative to pf?
Message-ID:  <EE39E0D7-6CD4-490D-A6A9-35F9BBF77311@netgate.com>
In-Reply-To: <20141217235636.3c607e57@Papi>
References:  <7be936232e96ae10d9734598014fd9d5@pyret.net> <20141217225457.64c16404@Papi> <55B84D9D-B376-4EFF-8998-723A62AF5D6A@netgate.com> <20141217235636.3c607e57@Papi>

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> On Dec 17, 2014, at 8:56 PM, Mario Lobo <lobo@bsd.com.br> wrote:
>=20
> On Wed, 17 Dec 2014 20:05:10 -0600
> Jim Thompson <jim@netgate.com> wrote:
>=20
>>=20
>>> On Dec 17, 2014, at 7:54 PM, Mario Lobo <lobo@bsd.com.br> wrote:
>>>=20
>>> On Thu, 18 Dec 2014 00:43:59 +0100
>>> Daniel Engberg <daniel.engberg.lists@pyret.net> wrote:
>>>=20
>>>> Hi,
>>>>=20
>>>> During the year there has been several discussions regarding the
>>>> state of pf in FreeBSD. In most cases it seems to boil down to that
>>>> it's too hard/time-consuming to bring upstream patches from OpenBSD
>>>> to FreeBSD. As it's been mentioned Apple seems to update pf
>>>> somewhat (copyright is changed to 2013 at least) and file size
>>>> differs between OS X releases but I wasn't able to find any commit
>>>> logs.
>>>>=20
>>>> That said, NetBSD have something similar to pf in syntax called
>>>> npf which seems actively maintained and the author seems open to
>>>> the idea of porting it to FreeBSD.
>>>> http://www.netbsd.org/~rmind/pub/npf_asiabsdcon_2014.pdf - Page 24
>>>> However I'm not certain that it surpasses our current pf in terms
>>>> of functionality in all cases (apart from the firewalling ALTQ
>>>> comes to mind etc).
>>>> Perhaps this might be worth looking into and in the end drop pf due
>>>> to the reasons above?
>>>>=20
>>>> That said, don't forget all the work that has gone into getting pf
>>>> where it is today.
>>>> While I'm at it, does anyone else than me use ALTQ? While it's not=20
>>>> multithreaded I find a very good "tool" and it does shaping really
>>>> well.
>>>>=20
>>>> Best regards,
>>>> Daniel
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> freebsd-pf@freebsd.org mailing list
>>>> http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-pf
>>>> To unsubscribe, send any mail to
>>>> "freebsd-pf-unsubscribe@freebsd.org"
>>>=20
>>>=20
>>> I think that just pf and ipfw would be more than "enough" for FBSD.
>>> I have used both but I'm more comfortable with pf's configuration
>>> than with ipfw. I have even tested ipfw filtering together with pf
>>> altq. I totally rely on pf's ALTQ at production simply because it
>>> works perfectly, no matter how complex the setup. Been using it for
>>> years now.
>>=20
>> Even with the SMP in 10, pf is as slow as molasses in January, and
>> 10G interfaces are a thing now.
>>=20
>> (Someone is sure to cry, =E2=80=9Cbut I can fill a 10G interface in front=
 of
>> pf!=E2=80=9D.  Yes, with max-sized packets. Try it with 256 byte (or 64 b=
yte)
>> packets.  Yup.
>>=20
>> Moreover, pf is has fundamental limitations (last match). =20
>>=20
>>> =46rom what I have read, there are quite a few changes in openbsd pf,
>>> specially as far syntax is concerned. I'm just a user so I can only
>>> imagine the hard work involved in porting it but running the risk of
>>> making a lame comment, I would be completely satisfied if only 2
>>> things could be implemented: SMP and fix the ALTQ limitation "bug=E2=80=9D=
.
>>=20
>> FreeBSD already has SMP, and I don=E2=80=99t know what you might be refer=
ring
>> to as =E2=80=9CALTQ limitation =E2=80=98bug=E2=80=99=E2=80=9D.
>>=20
>> Are you saying you=E2=80=99d be =E2=80=9Ccompletely satisfied=E2=80=9D if=
 you had SMP support
>> with OpenBSD or a port of OpenBSD=E2=80=99s pf to FreeBSD, or something e=
lse?
>=20
> You're right! But I am very conservative when dealing with production
> servers and your observation that "Even with the SMP in 10, pf is as
> slow as molasses" is one of the reasons why I'm still with a fast
> stable/8 pf,

No, you seem to have (deliberately?) misinterpreted me.=20

The pf in 8 is even slower. A lot slower.=20

> plus the links we use are not even close to 10G,

So, "not my problem".=20

pf won't even fill a 1Gb link with min-sized packets.=20

> so an SMP pf patch that could be applied on 8 wouldn't be bad at all

Nobody in their right mind (who doesn't have a 8 figure engineering budget) i=
s working on 8.=20

> Like I said, it has been working flawlessly for us since day one.
>=20
> Yeah, I know ... I'll have to upgrade sometime but not before checking
> if everything  works on 10 EXACTLY (and I mean EXACTLY) as it is working
> on 8 right now, SMP or not.
>=20
> I can't speak about the nuts and bolts of pf's inside engine but as for
> the tweaks I can see and manage or its config syntax, yes I am satisfied
> and i must confess that I wouldn't be thrilled to change my pf.conf to
> a different layout and pray that it works exactly the same way.

This is the largest reason that the openBSD pf wasn't brought forward.=20

In other words: you can't have  both X and !X.=20

> As for the "bug" I was referring to:
>=20
> http://marc.info/?l=3Dfreebsd-pf&m=3D137359958238507&w=3D2
>=20
> It doesn't concern me in the practical sense because we're the little
> guys with modest small links to the internet but concerns me as
> faithful user and admirer of FreeBSD that always wants to see it top
> notch no matter what conditions it is subjected to.=20

It's fixed in pfSense.=20
>=20
> --=20
> Mario Lobo
> http://www.mallavoodoo.com.br
> FreeBSD since 2.2.8 [not Pro-Audio.... YET!!] (99% winblows FREE)
>=20
> "UNIX was not designed to stop you from doing stupid things,=20
> because that would also stop you from doing clever things."



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