10gb question

[Hank C]

does this one Unused Intel E10GSFPSR SFP 10GB 10 Gigabit SR Optical Transceiver X520 DA2 SR2 | eBay actually work with Intel X520 NIC?

what cable should I buy with the these transceiver?
Is it cheaper to go with Base-T or with SFP+?

 

[stormqloud]

It should. I've bought some SFP through places like fiberstore (com)

They set the EEPROM up to fool your switch to accept what they make.

Works well for under $30 each

The RJ45 10GE equipment is very expensive.

Sooner or later people will be cranking out SFP+ that convert to cat6a. It's just a matter of time.

Meanwhile the used SFP+ switches are much more affordable.

 

[Hank C]

what switches do you recommend? What about the copper cables for the transceiver?

 

[Mike]

Twinax?

 

[Hank C]

what about switch has good GUI and sfp+ port?

 

[stormqloud]

It's funny twinax as a name, is being recycled from 30 years ago. That's supposed to work in most cases. Never know until you test it.

I don;t look for a GUI on a 10G switch. If somebody needs a GUI then 10G isn;t for you yet...

In an ideal world we'd have Cisco IOS at generic hardware prices...

 

[pyro_]

How many 10G ports will you need on the switch as that might drive the recommendations.

 

[Hank C]

i only need 2 sfp+ port

 

[pyro_]

Lots of choices then if you only need 2 ports

used some are the 3com 4500g and 4800G and HP procurve 2910AL, or Quanta LB4M

new you have the microtik and ubiquity gear on the cheaper end of the spectrum

Lots of info over in the networking section of the forum

 

[pyro_]

One more thing to note is that if the machines and the switch will not be too far away from each other you can probably skip the optics and just pick up copper sfp+ to sfp+ cables which should be cheaper than getting sfp+ SR optics plus the associated fiber cables

 

[Hank C]

which copper sfp+ to sfp+ do you recommend for intel x520 connecting to mikrotik?

 

[smccloud]

It should. I've bought some SFP through places like fiberstore (com)

They set the EEPROM up to fool your switch to accept what they make.

Works well for under $30 each

The RJ45 10GE equipment is very expensive.

Sooner or later people will be cranking out SFP+ that convert to cat6a. It's just a matter of time.

Meanwhile the used SFP+ switches are much more affordable.

Not sure why you think RJ45 10Gbe equipment is very expensive. The NICs are slightly more expensive than SFP+ but the switches are around 1/6th the price (I'm only looking at new since its for work).

 

[Mike]

It's funny twinax as a name, is being recycled from 30 years ago. That's supposed to work in most cases. Never know until you test it.

I don;t look for a GUI on a 10G switch. If somebody needs a GUI then 10G isn;t for you yet...

In an ideal world we'd have Cisco IOS at generic hardware prices...

If you think an ideal world consists of Cisco than I wouldn't look beyond 10gb. Vendors like Juniper and rista use a Nix base that allows you to install packages. How about X on your router?

 

[Hank C]

which copper sfp+ to sfp+ do you recommend for intel x520 connecting to mikrotik?

still looking answer for this...

 

[stormqloud]

If your switch takes "passive" copper cables then it will accept it 100%.

Passive copper cables cannot be detected. No EEPROM.

Active copper cables usually have an EEPROM and can be restricted by vendor (but not necessarily locked out).

In theory because you cannot cut a twinax in half and join it back together so it works, and getting the same switch and NIC vendor is virtually impossible, these cables are supposed to be universal.

The fiber SPF+ are a totally different deal. In most cases you need to match vendors and then use the fiber to connect.

 

[Hank C]

thanks for your response but I am looking for someone who can point to specific one that will actually work for the x520 and mikrotik switch.

 

[mrkrad]

SFP+ uses far less latency since it doesn't process data as chunks like 10gBASE-T, 8 times faster (latency) since the SFP+ is not having to encode a chunk/block of data and then send it down the line. This latency can play a big role in peak performance when considering how many packets get slung out of 10gbe nic's.

The X520 will work with any SFP+/DAC cable, but you should be careful of using any DAC cable over 3 meters!

 

[Hank C]

i only need at most 2m length.

 

[mrkrad]

I enjoy the Tripp lite since they come in black : N280-01M-BK and green: N280-01M-GN - running many intel SFP+ nic's off these cables!

N280-02M-BK N280-02M-GN for 2 meter length!

 

[stormqloud]

As long as you don;t buy 4G or 8G Fiber Channel DAC cables (Direct attach copper) you will be fine.

At the cost of a cable, just buy one and test it!

A 4G/8G FC DAC cable will *NOT* work. Make sure the DAC is "designed" for 10GB. I tried some 4G/8G DAC FC cables in random switches. Was never able to get it to work. Always complained.

The FC DAC are probably "active cables". If it's a passive cable and the equipment supports passive cables then you don;t need to worry about compatibility. It will work.

If you want anonymous people on the internet to tell you 100% it will work, we can do that too ;-)

Might not be true tho, it's the internet!