Hello all,
I want to add a 10G nic to my freenas box. Before I go spend money I was wondering if the forum had any recommendations. Also I do not want to spend a fortune. I am looking to spend around $100, where $200 and wife will notice.
Thank you,
Vince
Just needs an sfp+ for the connection type you want. I have 3 of these working in my two of my servers, one is aggregated with LACP.
1 Like
It is pretty hard to go wrong with Intel or Chelsio nics. If you already have 10G switching use whichever interface your switching supports. If you plan on direct connecting then T-based should come out overall cheaper that SPF+. If you go T-Based I recommend CAT6a over CAT6. While CAT6 is rating for 10G over short distances I have personally found CAT6a to be more reliable.
The price of short optical cables isn’t very high, so I don’t see a lot of cost saving. The SFP+ for multimode SR optical are actually very cheap on the used market, cheaper than the twisted pair modules by a fairly large amount.
The last modules I bought were supposed to be Cisco approved multimode SR for only like $7usd each. I bought a couple of 1 meter OM4 cables for another around $9usd “each” (really pair with LC connector).
Here are two links:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/3FEET-OM4-50-125-LC-to-LC-DLX-2-8mm-FIBRE-OPTIC-DUPLEX-PATCH-CABLE/392652964149 this shipped really fast and I had them in a couple of days
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Genuine-Cisco-SFP-10G-SR-TRANSCEIVERS-FREE-SHIPPING/302995845543 I think I got these in a day, they are fairly near me.
For complete transparency, I have not tried either of these products yet. I’d need to drag my lab servers back home to test the SFP+ modules, and the fiber cable is for a fiber tester that I’m still waiting to receive. I’m having a problem with some fiber at work and no tools to troubleshoot, so had to buy a light source and power meter, as well as visual fault light source. I can probably do a review if there is enough interest.
Thank you for your replies. I am thinking of going Chelsio with SPF+. Which model Chelsio has the forum found to work well? I am also looking for a dual port 10G card. Of course at a low cost.
Always check the Chelsio website for pricing before purchasing sometime they sell the cards directly for less than the resellers.
1 Like