6 port GigE cards

[Chuckleb]

I was picking up a card for work and didn't realize how low these have gotten.

Silicom PEXG6I is $80 OBO
New Silicom Pei Series PEXG6I Server 6 Port Gigabit Adapter Copper PCIe | eBay

This Hotlava one is really cheap though, at $59. So ~$9.75/port
Hotlava Vesuvius 6 Port Gig Intel Based NIC PCIe 6CGIGNIC 6C11810A3 | eBay

 

[Morgan Simmons]

Do they work natively with Esxi?

Thanks. I paid that much for my intel 4 port. These will definitely be on my list. A couple of these, and you wouldn't even need a separate switch

 

[jseba]

Do they work natively with Esxi?

Sadly it would seem that the Intel chip they are based on (82546GB) is deprecated from 5.5 on, although the drivers could probably still be sideloaded after installation, much like the Realtek drivers.

 

[Morgan Simmons]

Sadly it would seem that the Intel chip they are based on (82546GB) is deprecated from 5.5 on, although the drivers could probably still be sideloaded after installation, much like the Realtek drivers.

Damn, that really sucks. I haven't had to add a driver to esxi yet, but I guess I could learn.

 

[T_Minus]

I just got 1 in and have 2 more coming for my 3 ESXI hosts.

Now that they don't work in 6.0 GRRRRRR!

Guess I'll have to stick with 5.5 a while.

I got mine from ebay and paid ~50-65 each iirc.

 

[MiniKnight]

VMware what? They work with Docker

 

[andrewbedia]

wow, didn't even know they made 6 port cards on planet earth.

 

[T_Minus]

Yeah, I didn't either and when I did... excited, snagged 3 for my 3 hosts I'll just use 5.5 until figure something else out. I have the new Intel Quad cards, too many actually, so Ill probably sell those and keep 3 just in case I go to 6.0

 

[spyrule]

Have you tried sideloading the drivers from 5.5 into 6 ?