10Gb SFP+ single port = cheaper than dirt

Notice: Page may contain affiliate links for which we may earn a small commission through services like Amazon Affiliates or Skimlinks.
X

xnoodle

Active Member
Jan 4, 2011
258
48
28
neo said:
I tried using Mellanox cards in FreeBSD based systems such as pfSense and FreeNAS. Never got it to work, and found it easier to just go with the tested and tried Chelsio cards.
Click to expand...
There was a kernel panic if a FreeBSD kernel was built with both VIMAGE and IB/OFED. This was fixed ~December 2014. Unfortunately this was too late in the release cycle (FreeNAS 9.3 was released the same time). There are no plans to release this in FreeNAS 9.3 either.. gotta wait for FreeNAS 10 I guess. Shame indeed, FreeNAS has a great UI.

Feature #2014: Infiniband support for Mellanox cards (OFED) - FreeNAS 10 - Bug Tracking System
 
neo

neo

Well-Known Member
Mar 18, 2015
672
364
63
Spartus said:
Uh, I've been using these in my freebsd server since last year, with no problems. They are only supported in v10+. pfsense is using freebsd10, freenas is not, but will be soon.

I was actually too cheap to buy a switch so my freebsd NAS is also my 10gbe switch. The cards are so cheap, why not.
Click to expand...
It did not work in pfSense when I tried. At least with the kernel it came with, i did not bother recompiling it and the one kernel extension I tried still did not do anything.

Chelsio is the go to 10 GbE NIC for FreeBSD.
 
Baddreams

Baddreams

New Member
Mar 15, 2011
21
7
3
neo said:
Yeah, my suspicions are correct - it is a low profile bracket. As it's written in the auction.

Unfortunately I can only use the full height, and matching full height brackets for these are seemingly impossible to find.
Click to expand...
Call up Mellanox, they'll send you some brackets for free.
 
Baddreams

Baddreams

New Member
Mar 15, 2011
21
7
3
FWIW, if these cards are normal rebranded Mellanox cards (MT26448) then I've had great success using them (the Mellanox equiv, both single and dual port) under FreeBSD 9.2, 10.0, 10.1; ESXi 5.5; Windows Server 2012 R2; XenServer 6.5
 
  • Like
Reactions: T_Minus
S

Spartus

Active Member
Mar 28, 2012
324
122
43
Toronto, Canada
abstractalgebra said:
Oh interesting how do you have your switch setup and routed? I've heard of some doing a three system ring with dual port cards to avoid buying a switch. Three System Infiniband ring with dual ports cards discussion
Click to expand...
Heh um, this might not be as exciting as you picture it, its not a router, just a switch. If I shut down my freebsd server my two desktops lose all network connection, they only have a 10gb link. A normal 1gb intel nic leads back to the lan and out to the net. The two desktops can communicate fine with each other, though 10gbe, full speed, through the bridge. I originally setup with 10.0 release, so anything 10+ should be fine.

uname
FreeBSD HomeServer 10.2-RELEASE amd64

in /etc/rc.conf:
cloned_interfaces="bridge0"
ifconfig_bridge0="ether 0e:95:23:64:b2:b1 addm em1 addm mlxen0 addm mlxen1 SYNCDHCP up"
ifconfig_em1="up"
ifconfig_mlxen0="up"
ifconfig_mlxen1="up"

from ifconfig:
Code: 
bridge0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500

        ether 0e:95:23:64:b2:b1
        inet 10.0.99.10 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 10.0.99.255
        nd6 options=9<PERFORMNUD,IFDISABLED>
        id 00:00:00:00:00:00 priority 32768 hellotime 2 fwddelay 15
        maxage 20 holdcnt 6 proto rstp maxaddr 2000 timeout 1200
        root id 00:00:00:00:00:00 priority 32768 ifcost 0 port 0
        member: mlxen1 flags=143<LEARNING,DISCOVER,AUTOEDGE,AUTOPTP>
                ifmaxaddr 0 port 5 priority 128 path cost 20000
        member: mlxen0 flags=143<LEARNING,DISCOVER,AUTOEDGE,AUTOPTP>
                ifmaxaddr 0 port 4 priority 128 path cost 20000
        member: em1 flags=143<LEARNING,DISCOVER,AUTOEDGE,AUTOPTP>
                ifmaxaddr 0 port 2 priority 128 path cost 2000000
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: nthu9280
Chuckleb

Chuckleb

Moderator
Mar 5, 2013
1,017
332
83
Minnesota
Seriously though, 10Gb cards for under $40 are great already, $14 is amazing. There isn't any other server gear that cheap. If I didn't already have 40 or so, I would buy them immediately.
 
  • Like
Reactions: T_Minus and PnoT
P

PnoT

Active Member
Mar 1, 2015
650
162
43
Texas
abq said:
Hello PnoT, Yes, 2 x $14/ea = $28 is best deal AFAIK. Looks like great price to me. Cheers, Abq
Click to expand...
Was just curious as I have 3-4 new ones here at the house already but at the price it's worth just having some extra around for the hell of it.

Thanks OP.
 
W

whitey

Moderator
Jun 30, 2014
2,766
868
113
42
What DAC cable whould play nice w/ these connected to my HP Procurve 2910al j9008a modules? Fiberstore option maybe? Already been bit by the brocade 1020 cards being a PITA to get working w/ my switch and vowed never again to stray from the Intel path but to 'tinker/test with' at this pricepoint why not?

Would this guy work?

2M AWG30 New 10GbE SFP+ Direct Attach Passive Copper Cable For Sale | Fiberstore

I use HP branded passive DAC's now to my Intel X520-DA2's.
 
Last edited:
Chuckleb

Chuckleb

Moderator
Mar 5, 2013
1,017
332
83
Minnesota
Mellanox is really friendly with most types of connectors. I would bet this would work. We buy from Fiberstore for all of our fiber transceivers.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom