Unneeded home server upgrade I don't need but want to do

Notice: Page may contain affiliate links for which we may earn a small commission through services like Amazon Affiliates or Skimlinks.
O

Octopuss

Active Member
Jun 30, 2019
590
118
43
Czech republic
We're talking about stuff like this, right? S+RJ10 | MikroTik

I mean a motherboard with whatever integrated 10Gbit NIC (I guess all of them work well enough?) might really be the most headache-free solution to the problem (or challenge...). The DAC cable didn't cost much and I could sell the x710 card for some change too.
 
N

nexox

Well-Known Member
May 3, 2023
1,870
918
113
Octopuss said:
We're talking about stuff like this, right? S+RJ10 | MikroTik
Click to expand...
That one has a 30m cable range for 10G and runs hot, but at least it will autonegotiate 2.5G (and presumably 5G) in a Mikrotik switch, most of the time with other switches or transceivers you get 2.5G on the CAT5 side and 10G on the switch side and then dropped frames when the switch sends too fast.

I'm using some of these successfully: https://www.amazon.com/Wiitek-10GBase-T-Transceiver-Compatible-UF-RJ45-10G/dp/B0CF9SXTK7/


Octopuss said:
I mean a motherboard with whatever integrated 10Gbit NIC (I guess all of them work well enough?)
Click to expand...
Keep in mind the integrated NIC usually needs some PCIe lanes and may mean you lose a slot, depending on how it's implemented.
 
O

Octopuss

Active Member
Jun 30, 2019
590
118
43
Czech republic
nexox said:
Keep in mind the integrated NIC usually needs some PCIe lanes and may mean you lose a slot, depending on how it's implemented.
Click to expand...
Oh, hmm... that sucks. I guess this might be covered in a manual.

I could find four Asrock boards that does have an integrated 10Gb NIC.
micro-ATX
https://www.asrockrack.com/general/productdetail.asp?Model=B650D4U-2T/BCM (Intel X710)
https://www.asrockrack.com/general/productdetail.asp?Model=B650D4U-2L2T/BCM (Broadcom, no idea about that)

There are also two deep Mini-ITX boards, but it seems like that's proprietary Asrock form factor and that is very likely not to work with most if any at all cases.
 
N

nexox

Well-Known Member
May 3, 2023
1,870
918
113
Those both look like Broadcom, which is usually fine for just doing 10G, but from what I have heard may not be great for SRIOV or other higher-end features.
 
E

etorix

Active Member
Sep 28, 2021
205
115
43
O

Octopuss

Active Member
Jun 30, 2019
590
118
43
Czech republic
etorix said:
Not going to help you, but I suspect I'd go for of the Gigabyte MC13 variants or try MSI D3052 for the onboard SFP28.
Click to expand...
The Gigabyte was brought up on these forums in past, but I don't remember why I ultimately decided not to put it onto my list of potential upgrade paths (I've been theorizing about it for quite some time).

The MSI though, I like it! SFP28 is fully compatible with SFP+. The board also has IPMI. But I guess the catch is there is no bifurcation.
 
  • Like
Reactions: nexox
E

etorix

Active Member
Sep 28, 2021
205
115
43
Octopuss said:
the catch is there is no bifurcation
Click to expand...
Why do you think so? This is typically a feature you only find by digging into the manual or exploring BIOS options. My basic assumption is that server boards enable whatever the CPU is capable of.
 
O

Octopuss

Active Member
Jun 30, 2019
590
118
43
Czech republic
nilfisk_urd said:
Well, here i was wrong: With BIOS 1.2 or above there is bifurcation support
Click to expand...
Ok that is good news.
I am inclined to like the Asrock more, but realistically have no idea which company has better support. I can't say the current X11 board doesn't work. I just find the company's decision to stop publishing BIOS release notes pretty repulsive, and there is one forum member here (who supposedly no longer comes here) who previously wrote some lengthy post about how the company sucks from the eyes of someone who was a distributor or something.
 
O

Octopuss

Active Member
Jun 30, 2019
590
118
43
Czech republic
etorix said:
Why do you think so? This is typically a feature you only find by digging into the manual or exploring BIOS options. My basic assumption is that server boards enable whatever the CPU is capable of.
Click to expand...
Not really, my current board doesn't support it, and neither of the two discussed boards have it either in the specs or in the manual, even if it was added in a BIOS update later. It really feels like this feature is an afterthought at most. And I am not going to purchase a really expensive board to spend significant amount of time building a machine on it only to check BIOS settings to find out.
 
N

nexox

Well-Known Member
May 3, 2023
1,870
918
113
Octopuss said:
By source I meant buying a transceiver from Ubiquiti when I have an UniFi switch. That is 100% guaranteed compatibility.
Click to expand...
If you want to pay more for the same thing, sure, I guess. From what I have seen from Ubiquiti nothing is guaranteed to work (my office uses their equipment and it just fails and requires a full reboot of every component every few days.)
 
  • Haha
Reactions: Octopuss
O

Octopuss

Active Member
Jun 30, 2019
590
118
43
Czech republic
Also, I am not from America, so buying from Amazon is not very practical. The Ubiquiti transceiver is in stock locally and I can return it just around the corner. Yes, it is more expensive, but only by like $20 equivalent (counting the Amazon price with shipping). That's not that bad.
 
N

nexox

Well-Known Member
May 3, 2023
1,870
918
113
As far as I have heard the Wiitek (or something similar) is available in Europe, though maybe shipped from China, at some point it was cheaper than Amazon US thanks to our tariff nonsense.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom