Dual NICs on PCIE x1 slot recommendation

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mrkrad

Well-Known Member
Oct 13, 2012
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those are not so reliable. That wire looks seriously sketchy.

The cut mod is quite easy to do and those NC360t cards are cheap.

You can always get the ML110 G7 it has the same hot swap bays standard, option for RPS, tons of cpu/ram and slots! for not much more money.

I did the x1 mod to the NC360T and it works with esxi. Also threw in P410/512 FBWC which ran forever in a data closet (cool room about 70F max). 2 constellation SAS 1TB drives and esxi boot off SLC usb stick.

worked awesome! just the cpu was too slow and 16gb of ecc ram is too tight to live on.
 

Spatulator

New Member
Nov 10, 2013
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Not all multi-port controllers support the PCIe 2.0 speeds though, so he might be limited to 250MB/s.
I was considering doing this mod. The HP NC360T is only $40 on amazon. But when I checked the specs from HP's website it says it is PCIe v1.0a. This would be a significant bottleneck. Im thinking Id be better off with a realtek dual gigE nic that supports pcie v2. I know it will generate cpu overhead but wouldnt that be the lesser of two evils for an esxi host :confused:?
 

Dawson

New Member
Feb 5, 2014
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I too am looking at doing this mod.

The throughput of a PCIE v1 with a 1x slot is 250 MB/s per direction and is full duplex. Gigabit's max being 125MB/s allows both ports to send at full speed, exactly reaching the 250MB/s PCIE cap. PCIE like gigabit is full duplex, so the other direction can also receive at the full 125MB per port - giving the total aggregated bandwidth of 500MB/s

Regards
 
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Lost-Benji

Member
Jan 21, 2013
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The arse end of the planet
Not a fan at all of cutting perfectly good cards to suit boards or a chassis, will leave it at that.

PCI-E v1 moves @ 250MB/s which is still ample for a dual port NIC. Quad-port would be an issue, not duals.

Riser cables would be my suggestion too but as the stupid little chassis is too limited in the first place, not an option. The riser cables need to be good and shielded if you want more than PCI-E v1.
 

Dawson

New Member
Feb 5, 2014
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Thanks Lost-Benji, I see my error now.

For quads then, something like a modded NC375T from HP or a ethernet i340 server adapter would fit the bill, with is PCIE 2.0 compatible.
 

Aluminum

Active Member
Sep 7, 2012
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those are not so reliable. That wire looks seriously sketchy.
Opinion not based in fact: those things work fine, they are very popular with GPU miner farms.

Anyways I would always cut the slot before cutting a card, but that weird ipmi bonded slot makes that not an option for the microserver.

Oh wait, this is a thread necro...
 

Dawson

New Member
Feb 5, 2014
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Does 4 months could as necromancy ? spatulator might not have committed to getting a realtek card yet, and now it is very clear that a dual port unit will work without bandwidth issues.
 

RTM

Well-Known Member
Jan 26, 2014
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If this page is correct, the IBM netxtreme I (not II) only requires one pcie lane.
Downside is that these cards are probably not cheap, and they appear to be strictly lowprofile (which is preferrably anyway if card will be used in a HP microserver).

FWIW I have used a Netxtreme II card in a N54L (in the regular slot), which worked very well with ESXi.
 

Lost-Benji

Member
Jan 21, 2013
424
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The arse end of the planet
Opinion not based in fact: those things work fine, they are very popular with GPU miner farms.
Dude, did you just say that??? lol

GPU miners actually push extremely little bandwidth up their slots and could work just fine on lit x4 v1 slots with no impact. Go see what happens when you push them with a heavy game that has a need for both CPU and GPU resulting in flooded bandwidth.

Anyways I would always cut the slot before cutting a card, but that weird ipmi bonded slot makes that not an option for the microserver.

Oh wait, this is a thread necro...
The slots are for a riser card I think. Placing a extension cable in back slot might be a tip for those with these little buggers.
 

Alfa147x

Active Member
Feb 7, 2014
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I've had great luck with the StarTech.com PCI Express X1 to X16 Low Profile Slot Extension Adapter:


I think it was well worth the $15 I spent. I really didn't want to cut my card or use a ridiculously long ribbon cable.
 

Alfa147x

Active Member
Feb 7, 2014
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I have seen those and they help in areas that get hot as well as where slots are tight. The other benefit is when you get a riser cable into the second slot normally used for the riser card.
Yeah this computer had an interesting issue which was solved with some painters tape:

 

OBasel

Active Member
Dec 28, 2010
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I've had great luck with the StarTech.com PCI Express X1 to X16 Low Profile Slot Extension Adapter:


I think it was well worth the $15 I spent. I really didn't want to cut my card or use a ridiculously long ribbon cable.
Wait does that turn a LP card essentially into a FH card?
 

nickveldrin

New Member
Sep 4, 2013
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Wait does that turn a LP card essentially into a FH card?
I think the more apt question, to fit in line with the thread, is how can a card that was a tight fit while in low profile form ever fit if made into full height? I own a microserver, and have been thinking about this exact situation as i'm about to begin down the road to install a Cisco MDS series fiber channel switch at home and serve 1-2x fiber optic LC cables to reach of my machines, some of which only have 2x ports, and i dont want to lose all my networking either.

I may do what the others did and just butcher the 2port eth card and save the large slot for my FC HBA. Dunno.

Thanks everyone that has submitted some good looking, seemingly function options.
 

Aluminum

Active Member
Sep 7, 2012
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sigh

Dude, did you just say that??? lol

GPU miners actually push extremely little bandwidth up their slots and could work just fine on lit x4 v1 slots with no impact. Go see what happens when you push them with a heavy game that has a need for both CPU and GPU resulting in flooded bandwidth.

The slots are for a riser card I think. Placing a extension cable in back slot might be a tip for those with these little buggers.
Yes dude I said that, and look its yet another opinion not based in fact or real world use.

Lots of miners use them, but they aren't the only ones. It was more of a "its a real thing" counterpoint to the original knee-jerk response.

x16 3.0 will negotiate over short ribbon cable extenders of a design just like the picture. They come in wider versions as well, not just x1.
Games will run just fine, for example, BF3 multiplayer. Ask me how I know. (hint: triple slot gpu + limited rackmount case selection)

In terms of trace length, many of them are no longer than a typical riser. I'll give you that the noise is likely higher if you hook up an oscilloscope, but as long as its within the spec who cares.
BTW, please don't google-paste some guy with a half meter cable having problems, or someone that tried 1 bad solder job cable and rants how china sucks as some kind of proof that the entire concept is flawed.


The rear slot extension is for a proprietary IPMI card. I doubt you can use the rear slot with any normal card, it is most likely meant to pass non-pci signals.


I like the half height riser solution posted best, no permanent modification to card or board required, fits in same bracket. (will it fit in the case though?)
 

Stanza

Active Member
Jan 11, 2014
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Wait does that turn a LP card essentially into a FH card?
Specs say

Features
- Connects a low profile multi-lane PCI Express card to a x1 slot on your motherboard.
- Extends the height of the low profile bracket to full profile height.
 

Alfa147x

Active Member
Feb 7, 2014
189
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Wait does that turn a LP card essentially into a FH card?
Yup! Wasn't clean though. (sorry for the crap pictures)



I think the more apt question, to fit in line with the thread, is how can a card that was a tight fit while in low profile form ever fit if made into full height? I own a microserver, and have been thinking about this exact situation as i'm about to begin down the road to install a Cisco MDS series fiber channel switch at home and serve 1-2x fiber optic LC cables to reach of my machines, some of which only have 2x ports, and i dont want to lose all my networking either.

I may do what the others did and just butcher the 2port eth card and save the large slot for my FC HBA. Dunno.

Thanks everyone that has submitted some good looking, seemingly function options.
You could also use this:
New PCI E 1x to 16x Powered 1 0M USB 3 0 Extender Riser Adapter Card for Bitcoin | eBay



But you would have to find somewhere else to mount the card.
 

Lost-Benji

Member
Jan 21, 2013
424
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The arse end of the planet
Yes dude I said that, and look its yet another opinion not based in fact or real world use.
You have your opinion, I have mine, you have one and its working for you, I have over a dozen in systems doing various things with another 4 sitting in parts draw.
What works for you is great but when it is well known that not all work, you can't deny the facts. Not all work and are pushing the boundaries.

Anyway, you do your thing, I'll do mine.
 
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RTM

Well-Known Member
Jan 26, 2014
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A different solution that is reasonably cheap (and somewhat adventurous), is to use dual port NICs from chinese brand Winyao, WY350T or WY580T.

Another solution:
If the card can be fullheight and 100% utilization is not necessary, Soekris makes a 4 port card that can use a x1 slot: LAN1841
 

jingjing

Banned
Nov 23, 2013
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That mod looks pretty scary. Look how close the upper left corner of the cut area is to the signal traces and vias for the remaining part of the connector. Even if you don't physically cut into that area, if your cutoff wheel generates too much heat you could delaminate the traces and break them.