Hello, I just installed Gentoo on a new Core i7 based machine. After doing a bit of research on the best compile flags to use for this processor, I came across the advice to enable the kernel cryptograhic API. It seems that the kernel can make good use of the SSE 4.2 instruction set on the Core i7 to do the cryptographic work.
My system is mainly a desktop workstation that is used for business/home functions such as word processing, database work, image processing, audio processing, custom programming etc. There is no networking involved other than a DHCP link to an ISP. I suppose that in my case the cryptographic API would be useless. Are the kernel crypto routines used by any common software, or are they limited to IPsec and other similar things? Does openssl or pz7ip use the crytpo API? If it is advisable for a desktop workstation to use the crypto API, what specific routines should be enabled? There are a lot of individual routines within the crypto API. Frank Peters
