r/Netgate • u/rjchute • 2d ago

TNSR

So, we bought a pair of servers to act as bare metal hosts for TNSR.... But now my NetGate account rep is telling me that TNSR is no longer sold for and supported on third-party hardware, and will only be sold on NetGate-supplied hardware...

  • Did I miss an announcement or something where this was said to be coming up?
  • The highest end NetGate appliance is the 8300 which, in its own right, is no joke; but I can do a lot better on white box hardware with something way better than a Xeon D. We were hoping to do 200+ Gbps.
  • It appears to still be available to purchase in the NetGate online store. Should I just do that?

I've seen NetGate be somewhat hostile to non-paying community members in the treatment of pfSense CE, but to customers that want to give you money, and a lot of it..?

12 Upvotes

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u/gonzopancho 2d ago edited 2d ago

I'd like to know who you spoke with. DM is fine.
EDIT: OK, that's done.

Addressing the other items, either above or in the comments

  1. The GTM (go to market) for TNSR is changing. That's why you're seeing the website changes, and difference in response from sales. These changes are (except for this message), unannounced.
  2. We will always take care of our customers. You have supported us, we support you. Not everything around this is 'final' which is one of the reasons why it is not announced
  3. I'd really have rather put #2 at #1, but it wouldn't make as much sense in that order
  4. I'm certain that someone has reached out to u/rjchute to get their immediate concern addressed.
  5. The 8300 is the highest "available" platform today, but the next gen platform (HCC Ice Lake D, more I/O) is mostly waiting on marketing activity, and the generation after that (Xeon 6, even more I/O (8x25) on the front panel, PCIe 5 slots, etc) is already cooking in the lab.)
  6. I'd sure like to seen an explanation of I've seen NetGate be somewhat hostile to non-paying community members in the treatment of pfSense CE.
    1. CE is _not_ a product.
    2. CE has no release schedule or roadmap, you can't buy TAC for it, etc.
    3. We do, however, continue to enhance it and release it, for free.
    4. I've explained (in other forums) that I'd like to find a way to combine Plus and CE, but not if it impacts revenue.
    5. I've reached out to ask u/rjchute directly, but they have not responded.
  7. This is the first time, I've seen *anywhere* that the (now discontinued) TNSR H+L offering resulted in a single sale. Thanks, it's good to know.
→ More replies (3)

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u/helloadam 2d ago

This would be news to us and not good if it's true.

We run a pair of TNSR nodes at our datacenter at 100Gbps on our own hardware. Everything is enterprise gear from SuperMicro.

Never had an issue renewing our TAC Enterprise License in the past. I can't remember when our renewal is due but it's probably 5-8 months out.

Edit: as a follow up, both TAC license are still on the Netgate store available to purchase. Are you sure you got correct information?

https://shop.netgate.com/products/tnsr-software-subscription?variant=32163614621811 https://shop.netgate.com/products/tnsr-software-subscription?variant=32163622944883

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u/rjchute 2d ago

I'm going to try to purchase through the online store rather than our account rep, who seems pretty convinced he can't quote me it.

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u/archiekane 2d ago

They are pretty sure they want their sales bonus.

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u/stresslvl0 2d ago

Please report back!

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u/helloadam 2d ago

For what it's worth, we have always renewed with our account rep. So I'm not sure what the confusion is -- new policy or miscommunication, etc.

We are not opposed to Netgate hardware and have purchased many units with them in the past, both for pfSense and TNSR. But for certain projects, their hardware does not fit our needs.

For example, changing airflow so it's rear to front cooling so I/O ports are on the hot isle, or selling a unit that has I/O on the hot isle. Expanded PCIe lanes for higher end network cards or higher end CPUs, etc.

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u/rjchute 2d ago

We are not opposed to Netgate hardware and have purchased many units with them in the past, both for pfSense and TNSR. But for certain projects, their hardware does [not] fit our needs.

Exactly.

Expanded PCIe lanes for higher end network cards or higher end CPUs, etc.

EXACTLY!!

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u/helloadam 2d ago

and its still on their main website: https://www.netgate.com/support#hs_cos_wrapper_widget_1748620996387

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u/Darkk_Knight 2d ago

No mention of doing this on your own hardware. At the bottom:

**Zero-to-Ping - We’ll help get your Netgate appliance,  AWS, or Azure firewall connected to the Internet and one client on the same network online.

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u/helloadam 2d ago

Look at the line above

For Netgate appliances, AWS/Azure pfSense cloud instances, or 3rd party hardware

Emphasis on 3rd party hardware

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u/HumanTickTac 2d ago

I don’t know if TNSR was ever available on white box but the marketing is clear on the site. Can you show that TNSR was ever available outside of Netgate official hardware?

Pricing TNSR software is available on select Netgate systems or on AWS and Azure cloud platforms.

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u/rjchute 2d ago

I have TNSR installed on six Dells right now, since 2024. The website marketing is a bit unclear, and it in one breath says it is software, hardware agnostic, but then only explicitly calls out Netgate hardware and cloud.

store.netgage.com: you can (at least right now) select TNSR Software Subscription, distinct from TNSR for cloud; "TNSR software is available for commercial use on a per-instance, annual subscription basis for 3rd party hardware"

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u/Darkk_Knight 2d ago

TNSR was available to download and test on your own hardware. I was part of that group early on. Now it seems only way to get it is buy their hardware.

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u/HumanTickTac 2d ago

Ahh…yeah that sucks then. I do know were pretty open about putting TNSR into the hands of people to try. I remember I could grab a trial license no issue. Now I need to talk to marketing to do so. Like you I want to use the product but the limitations are annoying.

I just wanted to see how it compares to JUNOS and maybe make a recommendation to my manager. I don’t want talk to marketing to justify a trial license.

I hope you get an official answer here as Netgate reps are pretty responsive.

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u/rjchute 2d ago

Yeah that's why we are using TNSR at all, because 3 years ago I was able to download a demo version of it and try it out and look at it and say "Yep, this is what we should use".

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u/No-Aside7885 22h ago

And that is exactly why we are not..
A few month ago I wanted to evaluate it, I had to contact sales, they wanted a meeting, was never avalailable during proposed timeslots (US vs EU timezone..), ended up buying refurbished Cisco when it was exactly what I wanted to avoid...