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Bug #15480

closed

IX polling driver

Added by mrpops2ko . 7 months ago. Updated 7 months ago.

Status:
Rejected
Priority:
Very Low
Assignee:
-
Category:
Interfaces
Target version:
-
Start date:
Due date:
% Done:

0%

Estimated time:
Plus Target Version:
Release Notes:
Default
Affected Version:
Affected Architecture:

Description

hello i tried searching for this but found little information

this polling man page
https://man.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=polling&apropos=0&sektion=4&manpath=FreeBSD+15.0-CURRENT&arch=default&format=html
talks about running devices in polling mode, which would cease interrupts all together and instead just constantly poll.
it mentions its only possible on specific network interfaces and lists some, but if we check the IX man page

https://man.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=ix&apropos=0&sektion=0&manpath=FreeBSD+15.0-CURRENT&arch=default&format=html
it also references the polling page, and it would seem a possible conclusion that you could utilise the ifconfig ix polling option

but when i do that, it doesn't do anything in pfsense

when i search through the bugs tracker we see mention of
https://redmine.pfsense.org/projects/pfsense/repository/2/revisions/dc5edc6e9840a53e6c7153414c1d0e1066efd058
Deprecate/remove Device Polling on 2.4
https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/releases/2-4-0.html?highlight=polling
Removed Device Polling as it was no longer useful #7021
https://redmine.pfsense.org/issues/7021
https://redmine.pfsense.org/projects/pfsense/repository/2/revisions/f69f34f1289edb93b62e35f801efdef1093c234d
this ticket makes reference to using ifconfig polling option, but also it is 14 years old lol

i also found some forum posts by jim etc here
https://forum.netgate.com/topic/59172/remove-device-polling-option-from-gui

so my question is, is this intended? what is the best practice for high PPS, fast cpu, single core scenarios where interrupt storms are occurring?

for reference my network card is an intel x520-t2 using the ix kernel modules

Actions #1

Updated by Jim Pingle 7 months ago

  • Status changed from New to Rejected

Polling was removed because it was no longer useful on modern hardware the way it worked in the OS, which is still true. While on paper it may sound like it would address your problem, it would not work the way you are implying.

Any questions about what to do otherwise belong on the forum, or handled via TAC (if you're a customer).

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