Quad 10GbE for Dell R720xd

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vrod

Active Member
Jan 18, 2015
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Hi all,

I recently acquired a R720xd and are looking to get a 10G NIC card for it, more specifically a “daughter card” as Dell calls them.

Found 2 cards:

- Broadcom 57800S, MT09V, 2x 10GbE, 2x 1GbE
- Intel X710 DA/SFP+, 68M95, 4x 10GbE

Obviously the quad port card looks the most appealing to me, the prices are not that different. However, I am not entirely sure about if it’s possible to retrofit in the R720, as it was first introduced in R730.

Would anyone know? I have retrofitted several gen8 nics on gen9 servers on hp, hopefully it would also work on dell? As far as I can see, the connector is a pcie x8
 

DRAGONKZ

Member
Apr 9, 2018
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All the doco I read makes no mention, but this video shows a guy putting the Broadcom one you mentioned in a R720XD

If you want to double check contact dell spare parts, they are normally pretty helpful with this sort of stuff!
 
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BLinux

cat lover server enthusiast
Jul 7, 2016
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@DRAGONKZ for completeness, the MT09V card not only "fits" in the R720, it works as well. I updated the firmware of the MT09V in the R720XD, as well as did a iperf3 test in both directions, so I can confirm it actually works. Also, I used Cisco branded DAC cables for the test, and the driver spewed a warning about "unqualified transceiver" or something like that, but still worked perfectly.

That 'guy' is @BLinux btw :)
I guess the word is getting out... :D
 

vrod

Active Member
Jan 18, 2015
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Hey all, thanks for your inputs! A little late as getting a son takes a bit of your time away..

It doesn’t surprise me that the MT09V works in the R720, wasn’t it designed for that server? ;)

I am really considering buying a 68M95, everywhere I look, it seems like the dimensions are almost completely identical, it also looks like that the connector simply is a normal pcie connector with a custom slot. As far as I can see too, the slot is pcie 3.0 x8, giving about 8GB/s of bandwidth. That would mean that there would still be enough bandwidth for all 4 10GbE ports. :)
 

illethrias

New Member
Mar 20, 2021
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Hey all, thanks for your inputs! A little late as getting a son takes a bit of your time away..

It doesn’t surprise me that the MT09V works in the R720, wasn’t it designed for that server? ;)

I am really considering buying a 68M95, everywhere I look, it seems like the dimensions are almost completely identical, it also looks like that the connector simply is a normal pcie connector with a custom slot. As far as I can see too, the slot is pcie 3.0 x8, giving about 8GB/s of bandwidth. That would mean that there would still be enough bandwidth for all 4 10GbE ports. :)
I know it's 2 years old thread, but have you bought it? Did it work? I have R720xd and I'm thinking about it, but other then one ebay listing I haven't found any reference in regards of compatibility.
 

LodeRunner

Active Member
Apr 27, 2019
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The port is the same size, but I can't find whether or not it works. I have the Broadcom dual 10/dual 1 rNDCs in my R720xd's.
 

ericloewe

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Apr 24, 2017
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I've seen sellers of refurbished systems offer the entire range of rNDCs (the ones they have in stock, anyway) on Gen 12, Gen 13 and Gen 14. I've taken that as a sign that it's expected to work, but I'd be interested in hearing about real experiences.