QSFP+ > 4xSFP+, GridDirector 4036, FreeNas & ESXi/ProxMox complications?

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Derwood

Member
May 22, 2019
52
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I've read a lovely article on STH and I wonder if I could pose a scenario possibility I was seeking to obtain.

Heres the article link: https://www.servethehome.com/using-a-40gbe-qsfp-nic-with-a-10gbe-switch-sfp/

I utilise a Mellanox GridDirector 4036 (36x QSFP/+) linked to nodes containing the MHQH29B-XSR (SUN rebranded Mellanox ConnectX-2) cards and having some worries with IB cards within FreeNAS, therefore have opted for the Chelsio T420 10Gbe NIC which contains 2x SFP+, if I obtain another T420 that would allow me 4xSFP+.

Heres the crunch, using link aggregation at the switch on various other ports too but with a mix of IPoIB from the CX-2 cards and IPeth from the T420s using an QSFP+ > 4xSFP+ while the CX-2 cards use standard QSFP+ cabling be a possible option.

Sorry to jump in with worries, really looking forward to even trying the notion and pretty much half way. At the switch level its TCP/IP packets rather then infrastructure hardware which is why I'm curious.

-Would options like this be possible with my hardware.

Kind regards,