Introducing new Acceleration NIC 4x10/25G for Quantum Force appliances

[Yaron_Weiler]

I’m happy to announce the availability of new Network Interface Card (NIC) for our Quantum Force lineup – “CPAC-4-10/25F-DA”.

• The new NIC support 4 ports or 10/25G with Acceleration capabilities, based on Nvidia ASIC technology
• The new NIC is supported in all Quantum Force models 9100-29200 starting R81.20 Take #101 or R82 Take #36
• The new NIC is compatible with the acceleration capabilities, currently supported on the CPAC-2-40/100F-D NIC.
• The new NIC is not supported under Maestro - Maestro support will be added at a later release
• The new NIC includes “Acceleration” written on the lower right corner to visually distinguish between the existing non-accelerated NIC (CPAC-4-10/25F-D)

The relevant collateral is updated accordingly

• R81.20 - R81.20 Jumbo Hotfix Accumulator - Take 101
• sk183092 - Quantum Force Appliance 9000, 19000, 29000 with the 4-Port 10/25G SFP28 Acceleration Card crashes if the appliance is booted without the required Jumbo Hotfix Accumulator
• sk92755 - Compatibility of transceivers for Check Point appliances
• sk181465 - NIC Slot Population Guidelines for Quantum 29000 Appliances
• Documentation of Installing and Removing Line Cards in Check Point Appliances

Regards,

Yaron Weiler

Head of product management, Security Gateway Appliances and Maestro

[genisis__]

What exactly is this accelerating?  Is there more details on this module?

[Yaron_Weiler]

currently we accelerate firewall at a line-rate, whereas in the future we plan to accelerate additional capabilities such as IPSec VPN

[genisis__]

What about https inspection as this is a key thing.

[Yaron_Weiler]

we are exploring it via internal POCs but no clear direction yet

[genisis__]

This would be a really big thing as many of the community have pointed out the lack of hardware based inspection, for medium sized appliances ie. 9xxx.

[the_rock]

Excellent point @genisis__ 

[Chris_Atkinson]

Aligned / compatible with the acceleration capabilities, currently supported on the CPAC-2-40/100F-D NIC is my understanding.

Refer also: https://sc1.checkpoint.com/documents/Appliances/100G_Ports_AdminGuide/Content/Topics-100G-Card-AG/In...

[Yaron_Weiler]

correct

[genisis__]

9100-9300 not listed, so I would hope these models would be in scope of the new module.

[Chris_Atkinson]

The interface mapping references it here but I'm sure @Yaron_Weiler will confirm.

https://sc1.checkpoint.com/documents/Appliances/FRU_Line_Cards/Content/Topics-FRU-Line-Cards/10-25-G...

[Yaron_Weiler]

the new NIC is compatible with all Quantum Force GWs, starting 9100 and above

[Magnus-Holmberg]

Within the WebGUI is it visible somehow that these NIC support accelerations?
Same question for CLI.

If its not, would it be possible to add it in the GUI maybe as a lightning (similar as the policy push)

regards,
Magnus

[Just_Crj]

Good news!
Will there be an increase in performance in Firewall mode on appliances with this card?
Datasheet for 9100 says 55 Gbps in Firewall mode, can I expect 4x25=100 Gbps in Firewall mode when installing this card?

[PhoneBoy]

That's the current use case: accelerating firewall traffic.
And by this we mean only traffic that is fully accelerated in SecureXL (ie does not require Medium Path).
VPN is not included this at present.

[Marcos_Vieira]

Good question. I would like to see an answer to this. The appliance comparison chart says nothing about acceleration. The performance values in this chart are the same before and after the launching of the accelerated modules.

[the_rock]

I checked data sheet as well, but nothing there either.