This is more of a rant / work in progress but might as well throw this out there so I get motivated to fix it up.
I have upgraded my main stuff to infiniband/40GbE over 30m QSFP fiber cables but still need ports in a lot of other systems, so might as well share my ebay buying knowledge.
Prices are current good buyout+shipped deals on fleabay/craigslist/etc, some are easier to find than others, YMMV, void where prohibited, etc.
I try to list common Dell/HP/IBM/etc part numbers when possible, search all of these by themselves since everyone does keyword listings their own way.
Lazy sellers make juicy targets: a lot of my best deals have been listings that only had the OEM part number and nobody else placed a bid
BEWARE that many sellers use stock photos which may not match what they are selling, check descriptions carefully especially when they have a quad picture for a dual card or RJ45 for a fiber!
On the same token, some people use actual photos but get the description wrong. When in doubt, confirm with seller or move along, move along.
To get the rock bottom deals usually you will have to wait out a bid war or make several lowball offers until one sticks. You might have to suck it up and get the wrong profile bracket as well, but you can swap them around if you have lots of cards like me. If not, $10 for a bracket is not a problem if you save $50 on the card.
People usually charge a premium for cards in the original plastic with both brackets (or split into another auction) but sometimes they don't so you can end up with lots of spares. Random note: quad bracket mounting style changed after the Pro 1000 PT series.
Product ID Rules of thumb
T = baseT aka RJ45
F = fiber, usually LC
# = number of ports, 0 usually means single
Pro/1000 PT 82571 EXPi940#PT "The Proven Workhorse" bread and butter for standalone installs
Uni $10~20 even though they have the dual PCB the slot finger is only x1, really helps on some motherboards U3867
Dual $25~35 tons for sale X3959 NC360T
Quad $70~100 two kinds of pcbs, dont pay over $100 ever NC364T
Pro/1000 PF 82572 EXPi940#PF for your native LC fiber needs, can be a cheap way to connect to the extra SFP ports on some switches (mine work with $4 modules) or do >100m links
Uni $20~100+ (rarely cheap, not sure why) 42C1752 GF668
Dual $100~200+ (rarely cheap)
Quad $400++ (you're crazy)
Pro/1000 CT 82574L "Newer isn't always better" desktop model
The only real advantage to these is you can find them in retail stores for $50+ if you need it TODAY and they consume a tiny bit less power than a single port 82571. As for me, I'd rather have an ECC buffer and get a dual port cheaper online.
Pro/1000 VT/ET/ET2 82575/6 E1G4#ET the first hypervisor-aware designs, MANY of these are misidentified on listings as PT
Dual these exist?
Quad ~$100 K828C
i340 82580 native quad port, bridgeless and VM friendly
T2 Dual $150+ this is a neutered card
T4 Quad $150++ (rarely cheap)
i350 pretty much supports every feature, great if you are "that guy" who runs a dozen VM all-in-one server
T2 Dual $150+ also a neutered card
T4 Quad $150++ (you will have to get lucky with bids or make an offer, but its possible)
X540 10GbE on good old Cat6. I wish these were cheap all the previous models use fiber modules or specialized cables
T1 $300+
T2 $400+
X9SRH-7TF $475 ATX socket 2011 motherboard with onboard X540-T2 and LSI 2308 SAS controller (just plugging one of my favorite boards because I can)
PCI Nics if you're desperate, bandwidth limited on a lot of systems:
Pro/1000 MT 82546 Dual $5~15
PCI-X but works in most 32bit slots, be sure nothing will block the overhanging tab
Pro/1000 MF 82542 Single/Dual LC fiber $10~20
PCI-X but works in most 32bit slots, be sure nothing will block the overhanging tab
Pro/1000 GT or MT Single 82541 aka dollar store special, still better than realtek
I have upgraded my main stuff to infiniband/40GbE over 30m QSFP fiber cables but still need ports in a lot of other systems, so might as well share my ebay buying knowledge.
Prices are current good buyout+shipped deals on fleabay/craigslist/etc, some are easier to find than others, YMMV, void where prohibited, etc.
I try to list common Dell/HP/IBM/etc part numbers when possible, search all of these by themselves since everyone does keyword listings their own way.
Lazy sellers make juicy targets: a lot of my best deals have been listings that only had the OEM part number and nobody else placed a bid
BEWARE that many sellers use stock photos which may not match what they are selling, check descriptions carefully especially when they have a quad picture for a dual card or RJ45 for a fiber!
On the same token, some people use actual photos but get the description wrong. When in doubt, confirm with seller or move along, move along.
To get the rock bottom deals usually you will have to wait out a bid war or make several lowball offers until one sticks. You might have to suck it up and get the wrong profile bracket as well, but you can swap them around if you have lots of cards like me. If not, $10 for a bracket is not a problem if you save $50 on the card.
People usually charge a premium for cards in the original plastic with both brackets (or split into another auction) but sometimes they don't so you can end up with lots of spares. Random note: quad bracket mounting style changed after the Pro 1000 PT series.
Product ID Rules of thumb
T = baseT aka RJ45
F = fiber, usually LC
# = number of ports, 0 usually means single
Pro/1000 PT 82571 EXPi940#PT "The Proven Workhorse" bread and butter for standalone installs
Uni $10~20 even though they have the dual PCB the slot finger is only x1, really helps on some motherboards U3867
Dual $25~35 tons for sale X3959 NC360T
Quad $70~100 two kinds of pcbs, dont pay over $100 ever NC364T
Pro/1000 PF 82572 EXPi940#PF for your native LC fiber needs, can be a cheap way to connect to the extra SFP ports on some switches (mine work with $4 modules) or do >100m links
Uni $20~100+ (rarely cheap, not sure why) 42C1752 GF668
Dual $100~200+ (rarely cheap)
Quad $400++ (you're crazy)
Pro/1000 CT 82574L "Newer isn't always better" desktop model
The only real advantage to these is you can find them in retail stores for $50+ if you need it TODAY and they consume a tiny bit less power than a single port 82571. As for me, I'd rather have an ECC buffer and get a dual port cheaper online.
Pro/1000 VT/ET/ET2 82575/6 E1G4#ET the first hypervisor-aware designs, MANY of these are misidentified on listings as PT
Dual these exist?
Quad ~$100 K828C
i340 82580 native quad port, bridgeless and VM friendly
T2 Dual $150+ this is a neutered card
T4 Quad $150++ (rarely cheap)
i350 pretty much supports every feature, great if you are "that guy" who runs a dozen VM all-in-one server
T2 Dual $150+ also a neutered card
T4 Quad $150++ (you will have to get lucky with bids or make an offer, but its possible)
X540 10GbE on good old Cat6. I wish these were cheap
all the previous models use fiber modules or specialized cablesT1 $300+
T2 $400+
X9SRH-7TF $475 ATX socket 2011 motherboard with onboard X540-T2 and LSI 2308 SAS controller (just plugging one of my favorite boards because I can)
PCI Nics if you're desperate, bandwidth limited on a lot of systems:
Pro/1000 MT 82546 Dual $5~15
PCI-X but works in most 32bit slots, be sure nothing will block the overhanging tab
Pro/1000 MF 82542 Single/Dual LC fiber $10~20
PCI-X but works in most 32bit slots, be sure nothing will block the overhanging tab
Pro/1000 GT or MT Single 82541 aka dollar store special, still better than realtek
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