10G Parts Advice

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Franko

New Member
Oct 21, 2014
19
3
3
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I am planning on going 10G for my home network and looking for some advice.

Switches I am considering:
Netgear GS728TXS
D-Link DGS-1510-28X
Dell X1052

I want 4 SFP+ ports. I plan on pretty basic use so am looking for ease of use, power efficacy, noise levels, and cost. Do any of them stand out or have gotchas that I should know about? Should I just buy on price?

I also plan on uplinking the switch to a microtick 2 port SFP+ switch via optical cable at a later date on the far side of my house (to bring that 10G goodness to my workstation).

Network interface cards I am considering:
Intel X520 DA1

I intend to use these in a FreeNAS 9.3 box, an ESXi 6 box, and a WSE2012R2 box. These look like they are cheap and well supported. Should I be considering other cards or will these work well?

Twinax cables:
I have no idea on this. Do I splurge on Intel cables, buy something in the middle of the cost range, or just buy the cheapest Chinese no-name cables I can find?

Thanks for your help in advance.

P.S. This is a hobby for me so my skill level would be considered low compared to the rest of the site's readers so take that into account...
 

sthsep

Member
Mar 7, 2016
72
10
8
I use this 12$ Cisco 10G Twinax Cables and get about 9G via IPERF and the limit could also be the servers / nics. So I think there should be not so much differences to expensive ones even if this are fakes from cisco or not. But I'm not a expert maybe someone other have tried different cables and can give you a feedback
 

dwright1542

Active Member
Dec 26, 2015
377
73
28
50
I am planning on going 10G for my home network and looking for some advice.

Switches I am considering:
Netgear GS728TXS
D-Link DGS-1510-28X
Dell X1052

I want 4 SFP+ ports. I plan on pretty basic use so am looking for ease of use, power efficacy, noise levels, and cost. Do any of them stand out or have gotchas that I should know about? Should I just buy on price?

I also plan on uplinking the switch to a microtick 2 port SFP+ switch via optical cable at a later date on the far side of my house (to bring that 10G goodness to my workstation).

Network interface cards I am considering:
Intel X520 DA1

I intend to use these in a FreeNAS 9.3 box, an ESXi 6 box, and a WSE2012R2 box. These look like they are cheap and well supported. Should I be considering other cards or will these work well?

Twinax cables:
I have no idea on this. Do I splurge on Intel cables, buy something in the middle of the cost range, or just buy the cheapest Chinese no-name cables I can find?

Thanks for your help in advance.

P.S. This is a hobby for me so my skill level would be considered low compared to the rest of the site's readers so take that into account...
I have both the LB6's and the GS728TXS. the 728 has performed well. I also use X520's. If you're going across the house, Twinax won't reach. You'll need to get some optical transceivers and use fiber. For local, get on ebay and buy some used cisco / hp /dell cables.
 

Franko

New Member
Oct 21, 2014
19
3
3
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Went with some Intel X520DA1 nics and SFP+ twinax cable as well as the D-Link switch. Thanks for the advice.

Expect to put the project together next weekend.
 

JimPhreak

Active Member
Oct 10, 2013
553
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Are there any other 24-28 port switches with 4 SFP+ ports other than the D-Link DGS-1510-28X?
 

Franko

New Member
Oct 21, 2014
19
3
3
51
Are there any other 24-28 port switches with 4 SFP+ ports other than the D-Link DGS-1510-28X?
The netgear switch in my post is a 24 port model and has 4 SFP+ ports. I did not go with it due to the price difference, a used netgear was about what I paid for a new D-link. I think Dell and HP might have what you are looking for but at a significant premium.
 
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JimPhreak

Active Member
Oct 10, 2013
553
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28
The netgear switch in my post is a 24 port model and has 4 SFP+ ports. I did not go with it due to the price difference, a used netgear from was about what I paid for a new D-link. I think Dell and HP might have what you are looking for but at a significant premium.
Ah, for some reason when I searched for that Netgear the version with 2 10g copper + 2 10g SFP+ came up. I see the right one now. How much did you pay for the DLink?

Also, I see a reviewer of the Netgear says 2 of the SFP+ ports can only be used as uplinks and not access ports for servers. Can anyone else confirm this??
 

Aestr

Well-Known Member
Oct 22, 2014
967
386
63
Seattle
Also, I see a reviewer of the Netgear says 2 of the SFP+ ports can only be used as uplinks and not access ports for servers. Can anyone else confirm this??
I have the GS752TXS and I can confirm that all 4 SFP+ ports can be connected to servers. Two of the port are configurable for stacking but otherwise they work like the other two. If you have any questions let me know as I've been pretty happy with mine.
 

JimPhreak

Active Member
Oct 10, 2013
553
55
28
I have the GS752TXS and I can confirm that all 4 SFP+ ports can be connected to servers. Two of the port are configurable for stacking but otherwise they work like the other two. If you have any questions let me know as I've been pretty happy with mine.
Thanks for confirming that, much appreciated. How is the noise levels? I'd be putting this switch in an open door office next to my living room so noise is a concern.
 

Aestr

Well-Known Member
Oct 22, 2014
967
386
63
Seattle
It's probably the quietest thing in my rack, which now that I think of it probably doesn't mean much. I will say I was pleasantly surprised when I got it. For the GS728TXS the datasheet lists it as 32.9dBA which is pretty good.
 

JimPhreak

Active Member
Oct 10, 2013
553
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It's probably the quietest thing in my rack, which now that I think of it probably doesn't mean much. I will say I was pleasantly surprised when I got it. For the GS728TXS the datasheet lists it as 32.9dBA which is pretty good.
Nice. That looks like the ideal switch for me at this given moment but over $1,200+ new is a hefty price tag.
 

briandm81

Active Member
Aug 31, 2014
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The Dell X1052 has 4 SFP+ and 48 ports of 1Gb. You can have it for under $600 and sometimes under $500 no Ebay.
 

JimPhreak

Active Member
Oct 10, 2013
553
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@JimPhreak post back with noise level, please :)

Specs show 56.7dB, but that seems to be on startup and it settles back down
Will do. Sound will indeed be something I pay close attention to. I will monitor the sound levels with no ports connected and then once again after I have all 4 SFP+ ports and about 12 1Gb ports populated.
 

briandm81

Active Member
Aug 31, 2014
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Can't wait to hear back on the noise levels. I've heard from another user that it's okay, but I always like a second opinion, especially on noise. I may have to purchase one of these and stick with one 10Gbps connection per server until the 8 port options come down. $495...I can totally make that happen sometime in the near future. Especially if it lets me get rid of my old Dell PowerConnect.
 

Skud

Active Member
Jan 3, 2012
150
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Hi Jim,

Just checking if you have an update on this. I'm looking at the x1052 for a noise-sensitive environment.

Thanks!!
Riley
 

JimPhreak

Active Member
Oct 10, 2013
553
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@Skud & @briandm81 I'm really liking the X0152 (non-POE) so far. Right now I only have about 12 of the 1Gb ports populated and none of the SFP+ ports populated but the noise is not too bad.

I did take some measurements with a dB meter app on my phone but keep in mind it's hard for me to get accurate numbers here because the switch sits in between (about 1-2 feet away from both) my 24/7 media server and my desktop PC. I used a dB meter app on my phone to measure the dB above ambient noise (16 dB). With the phone right up next to the switch it fluctuates between 30-35 dB. Moving about a foot away it hovers around 20 dB and across the room (10ft away) it hovers at 10 dB. Keep in mind this is subtracting ambient noise of 16 dB (so add that to these numbers if you want overall sound levels) but also in a room with 2 other machines (media server and desktop PC).

Unfortunately I'm not in a position to measure the switch right now with all other equipment turned off. What I can tell you is that I sit about 1-2 feet away from it at my desk and there is a slight wine but it's not terrible considering how close I sit to it. If I do get a chance to take sound measurements of the switch in isolation I will update you guys with those numbers.