Cheap Option 10GB from PC-NAS?

[Magnet]

Looking for the most cost effective solution to get data from my primary PC to my FreeNAS.

Main PC is Windows 10, i7-5820K, 16GB DDR4, Samsung 950 NVME
FreeNas is 11.1-U4, i7-2600, 32GB, 5x8TB RED on 6Gb LSI SAS controller

I have spare PCI express slots in each system. They are about 6 feet apart.

I have a single QLE-8362-CU-CK.

I'm hitting 1Gb limits for file transfers.

Thanks!

 

[StammesOpfer]

Cheap and will work for Windows and ESXi.
HP 671798-001 10GB PCI-E Mellanox ConnectX-2 Card High Profile AS# 666172-001 | eBay

FreeNAS baremetal likes Chelsio or Intel NICs.
(This is what I use)
Chelsio 110-1159-40 AO DUAL PORT 10GPBs PCI-e FC CARD HBA | eBay

3 Meter cable to run between them for a direct connect. Just leave the 1Gbe connected (for Internet/other devices) and make sure you do the file transfer using the statically assigned addresses on the 10Gbe network interfaces. Otherwise you will need a 10Gbe switch too.
SFP-H10GB-CU3M CISCO SFP + TWINAX COPPER CABLE 3M PASSIVE DAC CABLE | eBay

Those 10Gbe NICs run hot so make sure they have some airflow.

 

[dswartz]

connectx3-en works great. DAC cables (not picky.)

 

[jerryxlol]

I have built peer connection with 2x MCX311A-XCAT ConnectX-3 2x Mellanox MFM1T02A-SR 10GBASE-SR SFP+ Transceiver | FS.COM and OM4 50/125 LC-LC Multimode Fiber Optic Cable Duplex 5m (16ft) - Aqua | FS.COM

I would say if you use DAC you get to lower price than me, but this set cost me like 90$ ?

 

[acquacow]

More importantly, you're going to need a LOT of drives to push 10gig write speeds to FreeNAS... else you're gonna get around 1gig even on a 10gig link.

Also make sure you have at least 64GB of DRAM in there if you want any sustained speeds.