Re: [tor-talk] HardwareAccel: Current proper use???

[coderman <coderman@xxxxxxxxx>]

On 1/3/15, usprey <usprey@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Summary:
> The documentation is still somewhat vague on the best use of the
> "HardwareAccel" option.


you could submit a patch ;)



>> *HardwareAccel* *0*|*1*
>>
>> If non-zero, try to use built-in (static) crypto hardware acceleration
>> when available. (Default: 0)

in OpenSSL land, there are two types of crypto offload / hw engines:
 built-in (static), and dynamically loaded (dynamic).

the "HardwareAccel 1" option says to enable the built-in / static
engines.  you may have a patched OpenSSL that will automatically try
dynamic engines without explicitly attempting to load them by name (as
libengine.so dlopen'ed implementations).



> https://www.torservers.net/wiki/setup/server#aes-ni_crypto_acceleration
> claims
> no intervention is needed in regards of aes-ni accelaration, but I would
> like to add an explanation or source to this recommendation.

in some versions of OpenSSL, you will need to enable HardwareAccel
(but not use a dynamic engine - aesni is built-in / static).

you will need to consult the distribution of OpenSSL you are using to
be sure - it varies by version and pkg maintainers.



> Question_1:
> If my CPU supports and have loaded aesni_intel on linux with OpenSSL is
> 1.0.1.j-1, should I leave HardwareAccel off or explicitly enable it?

leave HardwareAccel 1, but do not bother with a dynamic named engine opt.
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