Atheros AR8171 NIC on inexpensive board?

[WeekendWarrior]

Performance concerns with Realtec NICs are well documented on this forum and on other sites so I wonder whether similar performance (or functionality/reliability) concerns exists for the Atheros AR8171 NIC. I am considering a mini itx board with this NIC as a very inexpensive computing node. I prefer Intel NICs but the board is so inexpensive that I cannot expect that.

My research suggests that people are able to get nearly 1Gb throughput from this NIC and that modern (2015+) versions of Linux have drivers for it.

Any concerns to the contrary would be appreciated - thanks
Dave

 

[MiniKnight]

I'd imagine ESXi would be a pain as is troubleshooting. But if it's really cheap and just a Linux node then may be worth a try.

 

[mstone]

My research suggests that people are able to get nearly 1Gb throughput from this NIC and that modern (2015+) versions of Linux have drivers for it.

If you can't max out GBE with a modern realtek (e.g., E/G) on a modern platform you're doing something wrong. It's not 2003.

 

[Deslok]

Is there a reason that intel AIC nic's aren't an option? they're usually fairly cheap on ebay for single or dual port cards.