10Gb Copper NICs?

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IamSpartacus

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Mar 14, 2016
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What are the most popular PCIe 10Gbe copper NICs out there right now? Any that can be had on the cheap?
 

whitey

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Jun 30, 2014
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Intel X540-T1/T2's, but they ain't cheap like $20-40 10G SFP+ nics it doesn't seem like yet...more like $100-150 still.
 

IamSpartacus

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Intel X540-T1/T2's, but they ain't cheap like $20-40 10G SFP+ nics it doesn't seem like yet...more like $100-150 still.
Yea $300 is just crazy considering what SFP+ NICs go for. I can't justify spending over $100 on a single 10Gb NIC.

EDIT: Just realized they go for much cheaper used but still $100+. Time to find a deal!
 

Patrick

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The other side to this is that cabling is generally less expensive with 10Gbase-T.
 

IamSpartacus

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The other side to this is that cabling is generally less expensive with 10Gbase-T.
Indeed. For my use case this is also out of necessity because my main workstation PC is too far from my switch to use even the longest Twinax cable and running fiber in my apartment is just not an option.
 

whitey

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The other side to this is that cabling is generally less expensive with 10Gbase-T.
Eh, I can source 1-3M DAC's for dirt cheap, $10, a good cat6a/7 cable will cost just as much nearly. Now if you get optics/fiber that may be a lil more but i still think that can be very budget friendly w/ OM3/4 cable being pretty dirt cheap as well.
 

whitey

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Indeed. For my use case this is also out of necessity because my main workstation PC is too far from my switch to use even the longest Twinax cable and running fiber in my apartment is just not an option.
I forget, you already have a 10G capable switch right w/ copper connect on it? Forget exact model you went with but that makes sense. Did you get the Xeon-D w/ copper 10G as well, refresh my memory?
 

IamSpartacus

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I forget, you already have a 10G capable switch right w/ copper connect on it? Forget exact model you went with but that makes sense. Did you get the Xeon-D w/ copper 10G as well, refresh my memory?
All my Xeon D boards have dual SFP+. I'm waiting on the Ubiquiti ES-16-XG switch to arrive with 12 SFP+ and 4 copper 10Gbe ports.

However I want to make my main PC 10Gb as well and it's too far away for SFP+.
 

Pete L.

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All my Xeon D boards have dual SFP+. I'm waiting on the Ubiquiti ES-16-XG switch to arrive with 12 SFP+ and 4 copper 10Gbe ports.

However I want to make my main PC 10Gb as well and it's too far away for SFP+.
Ah yes the 10G Bug, I started out with just my servers on 10G and of course I wanted to get my other PCs 10G as well. I originally went with MM Fiber and kind of wish that I went with SM, the fiber is about the same price but you have so many more options down the road bandwidth wise. If we are crazy enough to go 10G now I am sure we will be going 40 or 100G down the road so why not invest in the infrastructure that can handle it?

Of course that said I know that the SM SFP+ Modules aren't as cheap as the MM ones but I'd still go that way if I was doing it over again. Add in the BiDi Option and you can even double your capacity.

And I assume you meant to far for DAC as opposed to SFP+?
 

IamSpartacus

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Ah yes the 10G Bug, I started out with just my servers on 10G and of course I wanted to get my other PCs 10G as well. I originally went with MM Fiber and kind of wish that I went with SM, the fiber is about the same price but you have so many more options down the road bandwidth wise. If we are crazy enough to go 10G now I am sure we will be going 40 or 100G down the road so why not invest in the infrastructure that can handle it?

Of course that said I know that the SM SFP+ Modules aren't as cheap as the MM ones but I'd still go that way if I was doing it over again. Add in the BiDi Option and you can even double your capacity.

And I assume you meant to far for DAC as opposed to SFP+?
Correct. My PC is well over there 30 feet from switch and even if it was close enough I'm not a big fan of the 10m DAC cables as I've heard some bad things.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk
 

IamSpartacus

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Anyone know where I can buy fiber patch cables in custom colors? I need white MM cables.
 

IamSpartacus

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Has anyone bought an Intel X540 on eBay from a Chinese seller? The difference in price between them and the ones being sold in the US is $100+. But I'm always weary of international sales.
 

IamSpartacus

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The difference is usually worse soldering and worse resistor quality. I could also be issues with anything else. I would say it is not worth the effort at all.
If I could just find some white fiber patch cables it would save me a good deal of money :(.
 

tullnd

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I think fs.com would do custom colors, but I doubt it'd be cheap. Why not just buy some armored cable and put it in a cheap white cable sleeve?
 

ridney

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The difference is usually worse soldering and worse resistor quality. I could also be issues with anything else. I would say it is not worth the effort at all.
Just wondering if you had personal experience with these cards or is this just your speculation? I bought one and it looked like a quality product to me but I dont have a genuine card to compare though. So far it has been working fine and had no problems with it.