I350 Controller - bridging ports together

[MattBSea]

With the I350, or any other Intel 2-port or 4-port NIC, is it possible to bridge 2 of the ports together using the Intel controller, and not a Host software bridge?  I want all of the bridge processing to occur in the Intel controller - the host should only configure and bring up the bridge ports, and not process any of the network data.

I would use an actual network switch for this application, but I need the flexibility of Linux for other aspects of the application.

[Crisselle_Intel]

Hello MattBSea,

Thank you for posting in Intel Ethernet Communities. 

Please provide the following information that would help in checking your query. 

1. Do you have the Ethernet adapter already or still planning to purchase one?

2. Can you share more information regarding your request or intended configuration? This will help us better understand your query.

Looking forward to your reply. 

We will follow up after 3 business days in case we don't hear from you. 

Best regards,

Crisselle C.

Intel® Customer Support

[MattBSea]

We are planning to purchase.  For example:  INTEL I350T4BLK

What I'm hoping to find is a Quad Port NIC, where I can bridge each pair of ethernet ports and have that bridge be managed by the Intel Ethernet controller.  Using a software bridge, such as Linux bridge-utils, will introduce too much latency for my application.

Thank you,

Matt

[Crisselle_Intel]

Hello Matt, 

Thank you for the reply. 

Please allow us to further check your query. We will give you an update as soon as possible but no later than 2-3 business days. 

Hoping for your kind patience. 

Best regards,

Crisselle C.

Intel Customer Support

[Crisselle_Intel]

Hello Matt, 

Thank you for the patience on this matter.

Please see below information for the feedback from our engineering team. 

Unfortunately, your planned config is not viable. Here are some suggestion/recommendation from our engineers. 

What about using a virtual bridge? https://www.intel.com/content/dam/www/public/us/en/documents/technology-briefs/virtualization-technology-connectivity-brief.pdf

Also for the Linux solution that introduces too much latency. Have you tried this solution?

Disable RSC function: RSC function must be disabled under the environment with bridge to avoid performance issues.

Feel free to let us know if you have questions or clarifications. 

Best regards,

Crisselle C.

Intel Customer Support

[Crisselle_Intel]

Hello Matt, 

Good day!

This is just a follow up to check if you received our previous update. If yes, please confirm and let us know if you have additional questions or clarifications. 

Awaiting to your reply.

We will follow up after 3 business days in case we don't hear from you. 

Best regards,

Crisselle C.

Intel Customer Support 

[Crisselle_Intel]

Hello Matt, 

How are you doing?

Please be informed that we will now close this request since we haven't received any response from our previous follow ups. Just feel free to post a new question if you may have any other inquiry in the future as this thread will no longer be monitored.

Best regards,

Crisselle C.

Intel Customer Support