Quad port NIC (Genuine -Help)

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vingo

Member
Jun 26, 2022
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Getting very frustrated playing detective with these cards, as I am really not an expert. I will need about 4 quad port cards, hope to have a few with SR-IOV. 1Gb cards are fine for my purposes but would buy a faster card if assured they are genuine.

What is a reasonable price range for i350 or i340 genuine used/refurb?

Are there any other really good reliable quad port models outside of the i350/i340 that are well supported in Pfsense and proxmox that I should be looking at?

Most importantly Is there a legit seller/refurbisher in europe who I can buy them from that this community has experience with?
 

prdtabim

Active Member
Jan 29, 2022
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Hi,

I already sugested this in other topic of this forum.
Use an 4 port 1GB HP 366flr plus one adapter from Flexlom to pcie.

The HP 366flr is a part/spare for G8/G9 servers from HP using a proprietary slot Flexlom. The chipset is i350.
HP support releases firmware updates fro this card.

HP366flr : 33.0US $ |Original Hp 366flr 380 G8 G9 4-port Server Network Card 665238-001 669280-001 Used 4 Port Nic - Pc Hardware Cables & Adapters - AliExpress
Adapter: PCIe X8 Riser Card for HP FlexibleLOM 2 Port GbE 331FLR 366FLR 544FLR 561FLR | eBay


The Broadcom 5709 adapters are dirty cheap but not support sr-iov.
 
Last edited:

vingo

Member
Jun 26, 2022
46
1
8
Hi,

I already sugested this in other topic of this forum.
Use an 4 port 1GB HP 366flr plus one adapter from Flexlom to pcie.

The HP 366flr is a part/spare for G8/G9 servers from HP using a proprietary slot Flexlom. The chipset is i350.
HP support releases firmware updates fro this card.

HP366flr : 33.0US $ |Original Hp 366flr 380 G8 G9 4-port Server Network Card 665238-001 669280-001 Used 4 Port Nic - Pc Hardware Cables & Adapters - AliExpress
Adapter: PCIe X8 Riser Card for HP FlexibleLOM 2 Port GbE 331FLR 366FLR 544FLR 561FLR | eBay


The Broadcom 5709 adapters are dirty cheap but not support sr-iov.
I have had those in the back of mind and did not forget your post. The adapter is painfull and is there no SR-IOV ?

Did you link to Ali Express as a reply to getting a genuine i350 seems kind of counter intuitive help me understand?
 

prdtabim

Active Member
Jan 29, 2022
170
66
28
I have had those in the back of mind and did not forget your post. The adapter is painfull and is there no SR-IOV ?

Did you link to Ali Express as a reply to getting a genuine i350 seems kind of counter intuitive help me understand?
Intel I350 chipset support SR-IOV.
There are no fake Flexlom cards ( at last I never know of any ). The card is most probably a reburbished one removed from a retired server.
I have many of those Flexlom cards including 10GbE ( 533flr, 561flr ) and 40Gb ( 544+flr ) with no issues.
In my opinion the major advantage is the support from HP ( firmware ) and the robustness since is a server part.
 

vingo

Member
Jun 26, 2022
46
1
8
Intel I350 chipset support SR-IOV.
There are no fake Flexlom cards ( at last I never know of any ). The card is most probably a reburbished one removed from a retired server.
I have many of those Flexlom cards including 10GbE ( 533flr, 561flr ) and 40Gb ( 544+flr ) with no issues.
In my opinion the major advantage is the support from HP ( firmware ) and the robustness since is a server part.

I see a lot of those flexlom cards available for great prices. Couple of questions, you have more experience with them than I do.

1) Which model is the i350 equivalent
2) Which 10 gb model for pfsense/proxmox
3) Do they for certain have SR-IOV, I am having trouble finding data on this. The dell i-350 models should but they dont so I want to make sure.
4) Once converted to pcie do they physically need 8x pcie slot size or 4x pcie slot size, and how many lanes do they use ?
5) Guessing the conversion makes it into high profile size ?
6) Does the converted card play well with all drivers and virtualization?

A lot of question but I just feel like there is a gotcha with these cards, they are very well priced.
 
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prdtabim

Active Member
Jan 29, 2022
170
66
28
I see a lot of those flexlom cards available for great prices. Couple of questions, you have more experience with them than I do.

1) Which model is the i350 equivalent
2) Which 10 gb model for pfsense/proxmox
3) Do they for certain have SR-IOV, I am having trouble finding data on this. The dell i-350 models should but they dont so I want to make sure.
4) Once converted to pcie do they physically need 8x pcie slot size or 4x pcie slot size, and how many lanes do they use ?
1) 366flr
2) 561flr-t ( Intel x540 ) dual port base-t; 544flr-sfp ( Mellanox CX3 ) single port SFP+ ; 556flr-sfp ( Emulex ) dual port SFP+
3) Look for sr-iov
- 561flr Document Display | HPE Support Center
- 556flr Document Display | HPE Support Center
- 366flr Document Display | HPE Support Center
- 533flr is a dual 10G dirty cheap but NOT SUPPORT sr-iov.
4) All flexlom cards ( 10G ) are logical pcie x8. The 366flr is logical x4 only. Physically are flexlom and the adapter transform to pcie x8. Works in pcie x8 or x16 slot in any motherboard that I tested. All uses 8 lanes except 1G cards that are x4.
 

vingo

Member
Jun 26, 2022
46
1
8
1) 366flr
2) 561flr-t ( Intel x540 ) dual port base-t; 544flr-sfp ( Mellanox CX3 ) single port SFP+ ; 556flr-sfp ( Emulex ) dual port SFP+
3) Look for sr-iov
- 561flr Document Display | HPE Support Center
- 556flr Document Display | HPE Support Center
- 366flr Document Display | HPE Support Center
- 533flr is a dual 10G dirty cheap but NOT SUPPORT sr-iov.
4) All flexlom cards ( 10G ) are logical pcie x8. The 366flr is logical x4 only. Physically are flexlom and the adapter transform to pcie x8. Works in pcie x8 or x16 slot in any motherboard that I tested. All uses 8 lanes except 1G cards that are x4.

Thanks for the info !

How is the heat, as they are typcially meant to be in server cases with big airflow. Do they cook?
 

prdtabim

Active Member
Jan 29, 2022
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Thanks for the info !

How is the heat, as they are typcially meant to be in server cases with big airflow. Do they cook?
561flr is pretty hot.
366flr is rated 5.5w.
In all cases a smal airflow using a cooler helps.
 

vingo

Member
Jun 26, 2022
46
1
8
561flr is pretty hot.
366flr is rated 5.5w.
In all cases a smal airflow using a cooler helps.
Your knowledge is golden. Is there any tell tale signs of fake 366 561 , how can we be so sure they have not been kncocked ?

And of course thank you very much for sharing all of your insights !
 

prdtabim

Active Member
Jan 29, 2022
170
66
28
Your knowledge is golden. Is there any tell tale signs of fake 366 561 , how can we be so sure they have not been kncocked ?

And of course thank you very much for sharing all of your insights !
Like I said before, the flexlom is proprietary from use on HP servers. So the counterfeit will be useless in other equipments.
Just recently the projects for flexlom pcie adapter show in github.
 

vingo

Member
Jun 26, 2022
46
1
8
Like I said before, the flexlom is proprietary from use on HP servers. So the counterfeit will be useless in other equipments.
Just recently the projects for flexlom pcie adapter show in github.
Well thank you for sharing.

Time to hunt down some flexoms, only bad part is waiting for the adapters from China no suppliers anywhere else it appears.
 

eatbuckshot

New Member
Sep 26, 2020
8
3
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Well thank you for sharing.

Time to hunt down some flexoms, only bad part is waiting for the adapters from China no suppliers anywhere else it appears.
I just bought a lot of 5 of these from this seller from China. LOT of 5/10 PCIE X8 to FlexibleLOM Quad Port 331FLR 366FLR 544FLR 561FLR 533FLR | eBay Shipping took 2 weeks (jul1 ordered, arrived jul 15)

I also got this from a US seller, PCIe Flexible Lom (FlexLom) Adapter | eBay but you need to solder this one yourself
 

prdtabim

Active Member
Jan 29, 2022
170
66
28
I just bought a lot of 5 of these from this seller from China. LOT of 5/10 PCIE X8 to FlexibleLOM Quad Port 331FLR 366FLR 544FLR 561FLR 533FLR | eBay Shipping took 2 weeks (jul1 ordered, arrived jul 15)

I also got this from a US seller, PCIe Flexible Lom (FlexLom) Adapter | eBay but you need to solder this one yourself
Today you could buy the ready to use adapter.