I recently picked up a Supermicro server and it's been nothing but headaches. I found out I needed SFP transceivers when I thought it was Ethernet. So I did some research and ordered the ones I needed both for my switch and my NIC that should be compatible. My switch is a Cisco 2960x which ended up getting a GLC-SX-MMD(SFP 1000BASE-SX) and the NIC in the title got an AOC-E10GSFPSR-C(SFP+ 1000BASE-SX or 10GBASE-SR). These should be compatible but I'm having nothing but problems getting UNRaid to initialize the connection. It sees the SFP when plugged as eth0 but refuses to establish a connection.

 

I don't know what else to do at this point.

 

Any help is appreciated.

Thank You.

10G LAN on twisted pair can be very painful.

Especially if you do not know the backgrounds, its no toy stuff or "customer grade".

 

First of all you need the right SFP+ modules. "right" means those that are allowed for your device (can be different on both sides).

2nd: the cable!

Older CAT5.e cables do not work at all anymore. You need at least CAT7 (better CAT8,1) cables. If you say "the cables are inside my wall", you are usually unlucky.

Even for CAT7 cables, there are still so called "raw cables" sold even today. "raw cable" means: the cable is correctly CAT7, but the plugs are not! So these things are not usually useble too anymore. Make sure you get CAT8,1 cables, they are meant for up to 40G LAN, they work well for 10G.

 

3rd: the length

Formerly (1G LAN) up to 90m were allowed, with higher speeds this limit drops. For 10G they SAY its 50m, but from what I have seen, everything >10m is a challenge and risk. Over 30m is russian roulette.

 

So what to do?

Switching to Fiber works best. Of course you need different modules and a different cable. But they are rather cheap now already and absolutely stable.

If the machines are within close range (up to 3 or 10m) so called DAC cables (with fixed modules on both ends, they are not meant to be put into walls) work well. There are passive and active ones. Whenever you can stick to <=3m and go passive. They are really cheap (compared to the price of 2 modules + cable).