Connecting Xeon-D 10G base-T to SFP+ switch

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bateau

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Jan 22, 2017
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The fan in the switch is a AFB0412VHB 3 pin, a 9500RPM fan. At 'idle' speed it is driven at about 6V average, max 12V (via PWM on 31kHz, as it should). You will need 12V fans. At startup, and at higher temps, the fan WILL get the full 12V.

A noctua nf-a4x20-flx (a VERY silent 5000 RPM fan) will NOT work as is, as 6V is too low for it to run. I have not tested other fans yet.
You MAY be able to get other fans to run, but it is likely that the 'fan fault' will be triggered. Why? Because of this:
The PWM controller is a TC654 (using a MOSFET output stage), so it does NOT use the RPM signal from the fan. The fan speed given by 'show system fans' is derived by the TC654 from the current consumed by the fan, and fan fault is determined by software, based on a minimum and a maximum value set at run time. If you do not use a fan with the same RPM range (or if you use a fan that has a significantly different internal architecture than the original fan), you WILL get a fan fault.
There are very few 9500RPM fans out there of the same quality and lower noise than the Delta fan. If you find them, please tell me.

BUT:

Even with 'fan fault' triggered, the switch will work though. So if you don't care about that alert, go ahead and hard-wire a fan on 12V. There is a big and a small power connector inside, find the right pins and you are good to go. If you use both 10gbt (copper) ports and some power hungry SFP+ modules, you may want to monitor the device temperature though.
Silencing the fan fault by simulating the fan on the 3 pin header will be very hard. I've read something about alarm silencing via SNMP, but haven't tried that (yet).

Note: Fan fault state will change after X (about 30) seconds, so do not expect immediate feedback if you test fans.
Note 2: the SG350X and SG350XG very probably use different hardware. The 350X board is re-used for all the PoE variants when looking at the board, but I do not expect XG to use the same board. The port layout is completely different already.
 
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Terry Kennedy

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Jun 25, 2015
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If they had just made fixed optics switches and NICs with just LC-LC connectors (Chelsio actually sold NICs with only LC-LC) and dropped the idea of SFP/SFP+/QSFP modules they could have lowered the per-port cost a lot I guess but that just never happened for some reason.
The SFP/SFP+ is already about as cost-reduced as it can get - fs.com sells Cisco-compatible ones for $6 and up, and 10GbE ones for $16 and up. More complicated / less popular versions like DWDM SFP+ are a lot more expensive, but that is mostly because of the tight precision needed for the transmit wavelength. Manufacturers charge a lot more than fs.com and similar operations - so you'd be paying the full vendor markup for a card with integrated optics.

The fiber SFP/SFP+ are pretty much serial electrical/optical converters with some diagnostic capabilities. Older 10GbE standards like XENPAK / X2 had much more electronics in the optic - the host side was pretty much a parallel port, with the optic doing all of the work. That allowed switch vendors to say "Yes, we support 10GbE" at very little added cost to them, while the end user was stuck purchasing incredibly expensive optics. For example, that 10GbE SFP+ from fs.com is $16, while the equivalent XENPAK from them is $110.
 

Evan

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Jan 6, 2016
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I want to choose my optics so I can use DAC cable or long range single mode or normal short range MM. fixed is not a good idea I don't think.
 

bateau

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Jan 22, 2017
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After a few thread-jacks (of which I am guilty as well), to come back to why this thread was started (in case anybody is interested):
Yes, the Cisco SG350X-24 can connect correctly to any of the 10G ports of the Xeon D systems, be it copper or fiber (or add-in card).

More detail:

For esxi, both driver types:
  • ixgben (which are official and preferred it seems)
  • ixgbe (see tinkertry, look for net-ixgbe_4.5.2-1OEM.600.0.0.2494585.vib, and look at VMWare KB article 2147565)
work on 10G with the copper built-in ports (Intel X557 based), the built-in SFP+ ports (Intel X552/Inphi CS4227 based), and a standard Intel X520-DA2, the latter 2 all with generic DAC, and generic SFP+ module and fiber.
 
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PnoT

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I stumbled across this thread while searching for some compatibility between the Mikrotik 6-speed Rj-45 10Gbps module , the SuperMicro Xeon-D, and an IBM 8124 (10GB switch). Does anyone know if that combination would work?

Currently I have an X520-DA2 in each of my devices but freeing up that PCIe would sure be nice.
 

bateau

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Jan 22, 2017
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Can't vouch for IBM8124, but I've never seen those mikrotik modules fail. I even used them for a 10G stack between 2 cisco switches for a while, and they did not complain. So they're good for me. They are much cheaper than a new switch, or even a X520-DA2, so why not try it out?
 

PnoT

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Can't vouch for IBM8124, but I've never seen those mikrotik modules fail. I even used them for a 10G stack between 2 cisco switches for a while, and they did not complain. So they're good for me. They are much cheaper than a new switch, or even a X520-DA2, so why not try it out?
I have a bunch of X520s but trying to free up some room for 2 2x2.5 HDD cages in that chassis. There might no be another choice but to order one and try it out. Thanks for the feedback.
 

compuguy

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Aug 23, 2017
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I stumbled across this thread while searching for some compatibility between the Mikrotik 6-speed Rj-45 10Gbps module , the SuperMicro Xeon-D, and an IBM 8124 (10GB switch). Does anyone know if that combination would work?

Currently I have an X520-DA2 in each of my devices but freeing up that PCIe would sure be nice.
I have a bunch of X520s but trying to free up some room for 2 2x2.5 HDD cages in that chassis. There might no be another choice but to order one and try it out. Thanks for the feedback.
Which Supermicro server are you using? The Supermicro SYS-E300-8D is also picky about SFP/SFP+ modules. I've honestly never worked with IBM/Lenovo switches before to know module compatibility. It's worth a shot trying the MikroTik S+RJ10 then.
 

PnoT

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Which Supermicro server are you using? The Supermicro SYS-E300-8D is also picky about SFP/SFP+ modules. I've honestly never worked with IBM/Lenovo switches before to know module compatibility. It's worth a shot trying the MikroTik S+RJ10 then.
I ordered a module today so we'll see what happens when it arrives *fingers crossed* that it works with my SuperMicro X10SDV-4C-TLN2F-O board.
 

PnoT

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The part showed up and what do you know it's "unapproved" status.

Code:
Port  8  SR SFP+ Dis  N/A   N/A  no     N/A   N/A  1280nm UnApproved  Detail ->   Vendor: MikroTik
I haven't been able to find a way to enable unsupported transceivers on this G8124 so I might be out of luck. What a waste...
 

PnoT

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@compuguy

Yeah, I've got a few alternatives as well from another user but at those prices it would probably be more economical to just buy a 10Gbase-T switch to add to my lab =/

I will admit that I haven't seen those two options before thou so thanks.