PCIe slots on Supermicro X10SL7-F

[BSDguy]

I have a Supermicro X10SL7-F based server I use as my SAN. It has only two PCIe slots with the following specs:

• PCIe 2.0 x4 (in x8) - maximum speed 2000MB/s
  
• PCIe 3.0 x8 (in x16) - maximum speed 8000MB/s

Currently I have a Mellanox ConnectX-2 EN dual port 10Gb SFP+ NIC plugged into the PCIe 3.0 x8 slot.

What I would like to do is move the Mellanox NIC to the PCIe 2.0 x4 slot so that I can connect a Supermicro AOC-SLG3-2M2 card in the PCIe 3.0 x8 slot which will have two M2 NVMe drives connected to the card.

So the questions:

1. I know the Mellanox is capable of a maximum of 2500MB/s for both 10Gb ports but can I connect this card to the PCIe 2.0 x4 slot that runs at a maximum of 2000MB/s? I don't mind if I "only" get 2000MB/s for my storage but will the card work at all in the slot?
2. Can you get a high profile bracket for the AOC-SLG3-2M2?
3. Can I use both M2 slots on the AOC-SLG3-2M2 card with this motherboard?

Thanks for any help.

 

[vinceflynow]

For AOC-SLG3-2M2, when I purchased it from Wiredzoned, it came with both HH and FH brackets. The only way to know, if two M.2 NVME SSDs will be recognized, is if you can go in the BIOS and see options to bifurcate the PCIe slot. On a SM X10SRM-TF motherboard that I have, the option is listed under the North Bridge IIO Configuration. In the X10SRM-TF motherboard manual, its says "

IOU2 (II01 PCIe Port 1)
This item configures the PCI-E port Bifuraction setting for a PCI-E port specifed by the user. The options are x4x4, X8, and Auto. "

So perhaps you can look in the BIOS or manual for the X10SL7-F motherboard, and see if it has something similar. If the X10SL7-F doesn't support PCIe bifurcation, then you'll need to get a multi M.2 to PCIe adapter card that has a PLX chip ($$$), to support multiple M.2 on one PCIe card.