# Intel ixgbe load balancing support FreeBSD



## rometoroam (Jul 18, 2013)

Hi all,

It's surprising to find PF_RING/DNA (BSD equivalent of Netmap) has load balance, MAC filter support for the Intel 82598/99 ixgbe controller but not for FreeBSD. Anybody know any reason why? Is Netmap going to push Intel to provide support for FreeBSD, too? If anybody knows release information about this please share.

Cheers,
R2R


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## Terry_Kennedy (Jul 19, 2013)

rometoroam said:
			
		

> It's surprising to find PF_RING/DNA (BSD equivalent of Netmap) has load balance, MAC filter support for the Intel 82598/99 ixgbe controller but not for FreeBSD. Anybody know any reason why? Is Netmap going to push Intel to provide support for FreeBSD, too? If anybody knows release information about this please share.


I'm a little confused. I'd never heard of PF_RING/DNA before, but a quick search found this page. Digging around in there, Looking at their ixgbe driver source directory here, I find what looks like a modified version of the Intel driver for Linux systems. I don't see any sign of any non-Linux support in PF_RING/DNA.

You ask about "push[ing] Intel for support of FreeBSD". Intel does support FreeBSD quite well, by offering drivers on their site as well as having an active developer who contributes to FreeBSD and posts on various FreeBSD mailing lists. The PF_RING/DNA code seems to be a 3rd-party modification of Intel software, not an Intel project.

Further, that site seems to distribute complete, modified source files. If they instead provided patches against the official Intel drivers, it would be easier for others to evaluate how difficult it would be to bring those modifications to other platforms. It would also make it easier for Linux users to move to a newer version of the Intel driver than the one that site offers.

If you could clarify what you're looking for, people could perhaps provide a better answer.


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## ondra_knezour (Jul 19, 2013)

I think the OP has Intel Flow Director on mind, see the Flow Steering section on the wiki.

Takuya Asada mentions there his implementation, but there was no agreement on the general interface on the list (linked on the mentioned page).

Discussion is from 2011, but the wiki page is about month old, so there is probably no important change on this, but I did not any further research, only quick googling.


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## rometoroam (Sep 13, 2013)

Thanks *g*uys. @Ondra_knezoure, you're spot on. Terry, *I* believe it's none of Intel's business as _the_ ixgbe driver distribution is _the_ same for both FreeBSD and Linux. But when it comes to multi-platform support Intel has done _a_ good job in _the_ past,[]that's all.


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