# IPFire project releases fireperf, open-source network performance tool for stateful systems

> **Key takeaway:** fireperf is a new open-source tool designed specifically to measure network performance on firewalls, routers, and other systems that track state for each connection.

**Published:** 2026-10-29T15:56:45+00:00 
**Source:** 9to5Linux 
**Category:** distro-news 
**Canonical URL:** https://fosswire.org/news/ipfire-project-releases-fireperf-open-source-network-perform.html 

## Summary
The IPFire project has released fireperf, a new open-source network performance measurement utility targeting stateful network infrastructure. Unlike generic benchmarking tools, fireperf is purpose-built for systems like firewalls and routers that maintain per-connection state tables, where traditional measurement approaches may yield misleading results.

The tool addresses a gap in network testing methodology: stateful devices must track connection state, allocate memory for flow entries, and apply rules to each packet, all of which introduces overhead that stateless benchmarks fail to capture. fireperf aims to provide administrators and developers with accurate performance data under realistic operational conditions.

## What fireperf measures and why stateful systems differ
- **Stateful target design:** fireperf is explicitly built for systems maintaining per-connection state, rather than stateless packet forwarding paths.
- **Real-world firewall/router focus:** the tool targets performance evaluation of devices where connection tracking, NAT tables, and rule evaluation add measurable overhead.
- **IPFire project lineage:** developed by the team behind the IPFire Linux-based firewall distribution, indicating integration with that ecosystem and potential for broader firewall tooling adoption.
- **Open-source availability:** released under an open-source license, enabling community contribution and adaptation for other stateful networking platforms.

## Why it matters
Network administrators and firewall developers gain a specialized tool that more accurately reflects production performance than generic iperf or pktgen benchmarks. For the Linux networking ecosystem, fireperf contributes to better capacity planning and more transparent performance characterization of netfilter-based and similar stateful packet processing systems.