10Gb SFP+ single port = cheaper than dirt

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PnoT

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Mar 1, 2015
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I have SFP+ at the house and those T520's are $$$. Was that the card you recommend me looking at?
 

neo

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Mar 18, 2015
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I have SFP+ at the house and those T520's are $$$. Was that the card you recommend me looking at?
Well you don't have to go for the top. The T520 is roughly equivalent to a ConnectX-3 - both are PCIe 3.0
For a Chelsio equivalent of a ConnectX-2 I would recommend a T420 - both are PCIe 2.0.
 

xbliss

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Sep 26, 2015
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I have an HP ProCurve 24-port GigE Managed Switch and CAT6 cabling in the home.

Would these cards make any sense/ value for me?
 

Keljian

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Sep 9, 2015
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I have an HP ProCurve 24-port GigE Managed Switch and CAT6 cabling in the home.

Would these cards make any sense/ value for me?
Unless you get a switch with a 10gb port, essentially the answer is no.

I am moving from a similar switch to a mikrotik switch with two 10gb ports and 24x1gb ports - I can justify it by using 10gb on my desktop and 10gb on my server, (the rest of the household is on 100mbit, 1gb or wireless)

I probably won't saturate the 10gbit (be pretty hard to in my use) but the lower latency for some of the things I do will be welcome.
 
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xbliss

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Unless you get a switch with a 10gb port, essentially the answer is no.

I am moving from a similar switch to a mikrotik switch with two 10gb ports and 24x1gb ports - I can justify it by using 10gb on my desktop and 10gb on my server, (the rest of the household is on 100mbit, 1gb or wireless)

I probably won't saturate the 10gbit (be pretty hard to in my use) but the lower latency for some of the things I do will be welcome.
I might consider getting a similar switch, but will this work with the CAT 6 cabling I have or will need Fibre Cable?

Hmm.. Are you / do you ever saturate your existing GigE/ 1G ?
How much would the latency change from now to then? And what are some of the things you do where it will be beneficial?
 

Keljian

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I saturate the 1 gig link when I am transferring files to/from the server generally. It has a 7 disk raid6 config.

My desktop has an assortment of SSDs and 2.5 inch hdds.

The other thing is that I Remote Desktop into some of the VMs on the server, so latency improvements there would be beneficial, especially when other machines are hitting the server at the same time.

In terms of cables, you would need optical cable + transceivers (sfp+) or alternatively passive twinax.

Optical cable isn't expensive, you would want OM3 or OM4 duplex LC-LC

Beyond all this, for me, the key thing is that the existing nic in the server is a Chinese clone of the i350-T4, which has me a little concerned about it potentially failing. Also there is the fact that changing it up for a cheap Mellanox and adding better network infrastructure(which I had planned to do as I had run out of ports) is just a little more than buying a genuine Intel.

This is the switch that is on its way to me:
http://www.servethehome.com/mikrotik-crs226-24g-2s-in-review-you-want-one/
 
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xbliss

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Hmm.. My CAT6 Cabling is internal inside a Concrete brick walled, 2 level-Condo. So, I am wondering if/how I could connect the NAS {in closet} to a machine at all to enjoy any of the said benefits you are getting.

Maybe in the future, when I next revamp cabling - Maybe such a cable can be pulled using and existing CAT6 cable - joined and pulled?

Would the prices of these stay at this level, or go down in the future? As these are tempting at the price even though I have/ would not be able to use them for a while.

I guess I wont be able to saturate until I have a Fast RAID or major SSDs that surpass SATA bandwidths.

I saturate the 1 gig link when I am transferring files to/from the server generally. It has a 7 disk raid6 config.

My desktop has an assortment of SSDs and 2.5 inch hdds.

The other thing is that I Remote Desktop into some of the VMs on the server, so latency improvements there would be beneficial, especially when other machines are hitting the server at the same time.

In terms of cables, you would need optical cable + transceivers (sfp+) or alternatively passive twinax.

Optical cable isn't expensive, you would want OM3 or OM4 duplex LC-LC

Beyond all this, for me, the key thing is that the existing nic in the server is a Chinese clone of the i350-T4, which has me a little concerned about it potentially failing. Also there is the fact that changing it up for a cheap Mellanox and adding better network infrastructure(which I had planned to do as I had run out of ports) is just a little more than buying a genuine Intel.

This is the switch that is on its way to me:
http://www.servethehome.com/mikrotik-crs226-24g-2s-in-review-you-want-one/
 

Peanuthead

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Jun 12, 2015
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For the any new readers that are reading this thread and want a simplified read. Someone correct me if I am incorrect.

Connectors/Connections needed if using this card (or a similar SFP+ card):
So in a nutshell is someone an this from server to server - Twinax SFP+ DAC is needed
From server to switch (or vice versa) you need 10Gb SFP+ modules (which are LC type)

Mellanox seems to be SFP+ module agnostic but the switch you use may not be. If using a Mikrotik switch here is a link that may help you out.
Supported Hardware - MikroTik Wiki
 
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neo

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Hmm.. My CAT6 Cabling is internal inside a Concrete brick walled, 2 level-Condo.
This is not a 10GBASE-T NIC. It uses the SFP+ form factor. For data cables I always recommend using a conduit so it will be easier to pull new additional cabling if a need arrises.
 
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neo

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Connectors/Connections needed if using this card (or a similar SFP+ card):
So in a nutshell is someone an this from server to server - Twinax SFP+ DAC is needed
From server to switch (or vice versa) you need 10Gb SFP+ modules (which are LC type)
LC is a optical fiber connector used in SFP+ transceivers. TwinAx DAC is a copper cable with built in SFP+ transceivers (DAC = direct attached cable). The main difference is TwinAX can not be run for very long lengths. I prefer to use TwinAx when I can for simplicity.

Mellanox seems to be SFP+ module agnostic but the switch you use may not be. If using a Mikrotik switch here is a link that may help you out.
Supported Hardware - MikroTik Wiki
My MikroTik switch is agnostic.
 

Peanuthead

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LC is a optical fiber connector used in SFP+ transceivers. TwinAx DAC is a copper cable with built in SFP+ transceivers (DAC = direct attached cable). The main difference is TwinAX can not be run for very long lengths. I prefer to use TwinAx when I can for simplicity.
Correct. I don't think you can disconnect the TwinAx cable like you can the LC/Fiber cable can you? (Fiber newbie.) I personally like the idea of fiber just because if I need a longer run I just get a longer cable and keep my receivers.
 

canta

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just a simple question :
can I do direct connection between two cards? the goal is to connect my primary Zol to my backup server since gaining more than 1Gb connection is awesome to shorten transfer time.

waiting patiently to buy fiber switch from ebay...
 

NetWise

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Jun 29, 2012
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just a simple question :
can I do direct connection between two cards? the goal is to connect my primary Zol to my backup server since gaining more than 1Gb connection is awesome to shorten transfer time.

waiting patiently to buy fiber switch from ebay...
Yes, you can. Note that if your backup isn't multithreaded the cable/bandwidth will likely not solve all your problems. But your use case would certainly fit...
 
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Peanuthead

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FYI - if anyone is planning to order from Fiberstore they have a coming holiday of Nation Day for the factory. They will be on holiday from Oct 1st to 7th.
 
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canta

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Yes, you can. Note that if your backup isn't multithreaded the cable/bandwidth will likely not solve all your problems. But your use case would certainly fit...
thanks
I plan to run mulitple rsync :D. yeah rsync is old but this the most trusted backup that I rely on as now :D
 

JayG30

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From what I have always gathered, if you only need a short connection Copper Twinax is the cheapest route. The fiber transceivers aren't going to be as cheap if you want to go fiber. The fiber is usually "better" I believe do to less interference, but for 99.99% of people I don't see this mattering and if you can connect with copper twinax, it is simpler and cheaper.

For longer runs you really don't have a choice.
 
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Fritz

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I just ordered 2 Chelsio NICs that came with 2 TwinAx cables. Knew nothing about them until I read this thread. Thanks. :)
 
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