INFO EDIT:
I'm looking at getting a Brocade ICX6450-48P and upgrading my server and desktop to 10GbE. My server is a FreeNAS 11.3 box with PCIe2.0 x8 ports, and my desktop is a modern Windows 10 build.
I'm trying to find a SFP+ NIC for my FreeNAS box but I'm a little overwhelmed with the options. I've seen people recommending all sorts of cards from Intel to Mellanox to SolarFlare. Narrowing them down to a reasonable price and trying to confirm compatibility has gotten my head spinning a bit.
It's running on an older box that has PCIe Gen 2 x8 ports available on the riser. My fallback would be this card, if has good driver support, because it should be the mezzanine card for my server box. However, at $70 I think I can go cheaper as I've seen cards like this SolarFlare for $20 or less, like this HP NC550SFP.
I'd happily snap up one of those cheaper cards but I saw some posts elsewhere that suggested that drivers could be an issue for some cards (not these specifically) and that got me worried. I'm having trouble verifying if these are 100% supported or not.
I am also looking for a SFP+ NIC for my desktop PC running Win10. I'm planning on getting a 10GBase-T adapter/transceiver for the desktop and the switch I'm planning on getting so that I can get 10Gbit access to my FreeNAS server.
I'd love any help or advice you guys can give because I've officially managed to hit information overload/analysis paralysis.
EDIT: I'd also appreciate suggestions for what transceiver to use for connecting the server to the switch. I don't know if it's better to get normal transceivers and then a separate cable or to get one of those direct attach cables that just plugs into both.
I'm looking at getting a Brocade ICX6450-48P and upgrading my server and desktop to 10GbE. My server is a FreeNAS 11.3 box with PCIe2.0 x8 ports, and my desktop is a modern Windows 10 build.
I'm trying to find a SFP+ NIC for my FreeNAS box but I'm a little overwhelmed with the options. I've seen people recommending all sorts of cards from Intel to Mellanox to SolarFlare. Narrowing them down to a reasonable price and trying to confirm compatibility has gotten my head spinning a bit.
It's running on an older box that has PCIe Gen 2 x8 ports available on the riser. My fallback would be this card, if has good driver support, because it should be the mezzanine card for my server box. However, at $70 I think I can go cheaper as I've seen cards like this SolarFlare for $20 or less, like this HP NC550SFP.
I'd happily snap up one of those cheaper cards but I saw some posts elsewhere that suggested that drivers could be an issue for some cards (not these specifically) and that got me worried. I'm having trouble verifying if these are 100% supported or not.
I am also looking for a SFP+ NIC for my desktop PC running Win10. I'm planning on getting a 10GBase-T adapter/transceiver for the desktop and the switch I'm planning on getting so that I can get 10Gbit access to my FreeNAS server.
I'd love any help or advice you guys can give because I've officially managed to hit information overload/analysis paralysis.
EDIT: I'd also appreciate suggestions for what transceiver to use for connecting the server to the switch. I don't know if it's better to get normal transceivers and then a separate cable or to get one of those direct attach cables that just plugs into both.
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