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10GB Switch/NIC Recomendations


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I am just about ready to upgrade to a 10Gbit home network.

 

Does anyone have any recommendations on either a mobo that has a 10Gbit NIC, or a standalone NIC that won't break the bank.  The network will be upgraded along with a new build of UnRaid.

 

Also, recomendations for a cheapish 5port 10gbit switch...

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17 hours ago, BlinkerFluid said:

+1 massive difference between copper or fiber

sorry, my english is too bad for getting the meaning of this sentence 😞

 

You want to know the differences?

 

Mainly they: Heat, Lenght and Noise

 

Heat: Copper Modules heat up like hell, the longer the cable, the more energy they need to compensate it.

 

Lenght: Copper is fine when cable lenghts are below 30m. Over this, it becomes extremely complicated to pick the right cable quality, and even more, plugs and wallets are very delicate because there are NONE currently that are guaranteed to work. The same is true for patch cables: you can buy only "raw cables" which means, the cable itself is ok, but the plugs at the end do not fulfill the needed specs.

 

Noise: Switches (real one, not those wannabes which only have one or two 10G ports) are almost all needing fans. this will drive you crazy when placed on your desk. There are fanless types out there (like mikrotik) but if you put in too many copper modules, they will overheat too and need a fan.

 

Note that for short ranges (up to 3m) there is a 3rd choice called "DA-cable". DA means "direct attach". These are two modules with a fixed cable between them, you plug them into the switch and the computer. Although they also use copper between them, they use a special protocol (and because they always come in pairs and the cable is fixed, its up to the manufacturer) and do not produce that much heat. Nice side effect: this is also the cheapest way to connect.

 

The sad thing: most lan cards that you can find are for copper only. There are very few (and mostly expensive) ones that come with a "SFP+" cage where you can plug in the modules. The best thing currently so save a dime is to find a dealer for used equipment and buy a refurbished "Mellanox 3" card. This has such a cage and costs (used) about 50-70€

 

And for the switch my recommendation would be a mikrotik CRS30x. Note: these are ROUTERS, very complicated stuff. But they also come with a selectable 2nd OS called "SWOS" which will turn them into a fairly simple switch. There are also versions with 8 and more ports available, but "more than 8" come with a fan again.

(this is a 4+1 Switch with 4 10G ports and one 1G "Admin" Port. The "Admin" means nothing, just that this port is always on and can be used to power the switch via POE. But all normal features also can be used too. I use it here as a downlink to an old 1G switch)

These devices are fairly cheap too but with excelent quality.

 (dont forget that you also will need to buy the modules for every port!)

 

Update: just got a new catalog with networking stuff. And for the first time they showed a CAT8.1 plug (and the opposite) for creating "real" copper cables that fulfill the 10G specs. Quite expensive, and only for manual configuration yet, but I'm sure, other stuff will follow soon and prices will drop. But it may take a year or two for this.

 

Edited by MAM59
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