# BitBabbler RNG support



## Oliver Jones (Dec 9, 2017)

Hi,

I would like to know if a developer is willing to integrate support for the BitBabbler RNG in the kernel, so that high-quality entropy can be sourced from an external device.

I'm willing to send a couple of BitBabbler devices, in the event the core team is interested in supporting this hardware. There is existing software written by the BitBabbler team (which compiles on FreeBSD), but I'm interested in the kernel team supporting this device on equal footing with the Intel "Bull Mountain" RNG in Ivy Bridge and later, with the entropy harvested from this device being mixed into the kernel entropy pool. Several BitBabblers can be connected to a machine, to increase entropy.

For the curious, the BitBabbler is an open-source hardware device, that's also made by a telecommunications company in Australia. It's available at two price points: The $50 Black, which is capable of 625Kb/sec of entropy, and the $200 White, which can deliver 2.5Mb/sec of entropy. It is functionally equivalent to four Black devices.

If anyone is interested in supporting this device (especially as it would help increase server performance, if administrators can switch off entropy gathering in the networking and IO stacks), please contact me.

Oliver.


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## SirDice (Dec 13, 2017)

Oliver Jones said:


> I would like to know if a developer is willing to integrate support for the BitBabbler RNG in the kernel, so that high-quality entropy can be sourced from an external device.


There are very few developers on this board and even fewer kernel developers. Unfortunately. You're better off asking this on the mailing lists.


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