In need of some advice and a sanity check before I dip my toes into 10gb home networking..

keenan

keenan

keenan

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My home broadband is getting upgraded to 5gb next Friday, so I'm looking at taking the first steps into upgrading my current 1gb home setup.

My main PC is mini-itx and has onboard 2.5gb Ethernet, but all other home devices are limited to 1gb and WiFi.

I do have a server which handles all media (Plex), ftp and downloads, so ultimately this needs the most attention.

I've done some research by searching this subreddit and so far I've come up with the following plan...

Get an affordable/cheap unmanaged 2.5G switch with 4 x 2.5G Base-T Ports and 2 x 10G SFP+ ports..


Or maybe get a managed switch which supports aggregation in case I ever upgrade my main PC to something with dual 2.5gb Ethernet?


To upgrade the server, I was thinking of getting an Intel x520-da2


Then lastly, to connect the server to the switch's sfp+ port, this cable. (15 meters)



So to recap, new router and server will connect to the 2 x SFP+ ports and main PC with connect to a single 2.5gb port for now.

Are all the items listed above compatible and are they the correct items for this purpose?

Thanks for reading..
 
keenan said:
I've done some research by searching this subreddit
Click to expand...
This ain't Reddit. ;)

What router are you planning to use? I'm assuming copper? What's your planned topology/layout? It sounds awfully like you basically want to hang the server off the 5Gb WAN and everything else can stay as it is. I'd avoid the X520, it's very old now, uses more power than more modern options, and lacks a lot of features and offloads you would fine useful. Look at ConnectX-4Lx or similar, for not much more money and an infinitely better chipset and features. Or if you want Intel and can stretch, an X550.

Why not put one in the server, and one in the mini-ITX PC, and lose the 2.5G cap? You're paying for 5G WAN, so you may as well use it. Personally, I'd bite the bullet now and install a proper 10G spine to make upgrades and local device shuffling painless down the line. I would do something like:

ONT --> x86 router with a ConnectX-4Lx
| DAC uplink​
--> Mikrotik CRS305-1G-4S+ 10G SFP+ switch​
|----> Server and PC (AOC or similar)​
| DAC uplink​
----> Cheap Chinese 2.5G 8 port copper switch with 1x SFP+ uplink (with PoE if needed for WiFI AP)​
----> Legacy 1G/2.5G copper clients​
​
That way you can have 5Gb WAN coming in to a 10G router, a full 10G core switch and one or more cheap copper 2.5G switches with an SFP+ uplink back to the core switch for legacy clients. If you want to go budget and just get faster speeds on your server, leave whatever router the ISP gives you and the switch you linked will work. Be careful of planning ports though as you'll need to use one SFP+ port to uplink to the router with an RJ45-SFP+ module (else you'll lose the 5G speeds) and one for your server... and then you're out of options.
 
Last edited:
@Rainmaker

Thank you for the detailed reply! Definitely something Reddit doesn't provide! :)

Regarding the main mini-ITX pc, there's no option for expansion, so I'm very much stuck with 2.5G. Unless I try some form of usb to ethernet solution?

In regards to the X520.. apart from using more power, what sort of features would I loose out on compared to something newer?
 
Seems like a waste of a 5 Gb connection. I have two TP-Link TL-ST1008 10 Gb 8 port switches - one in my study, one in my 'server room' - both modded with quiet Noctua fans and Intel 10 Gb NICs in all devices. I'm sure there are cheaper devices now. All RJ45.

keenan said:
Regarding the main mini-ITX pc, there's no option for expansion, so I'm very much stuck with 2.5G. Unless I try some form of usb to ethernet solution?
Click to expand...

You can get a M.2 to 10 Gb ethernet adapter.
 
Quartz said:
Seems like a waste of a 5 Gb connection. I have two TP-Link TL-ST1008 10 Gb 8 port switches - one in my study, one in my 'server room' - both modded with quiet Noctua fans and Intel 10 Gb NICs in all devices. I'm sure there are cheaper devices now. All RJ45.



You can get a M.2 to 10 Gb ethernet adapter.
Click to expand...
Apologies, I should have mentioned that both M.2 slots are being used for storage.
 
Speaking in generalisations and from experience doing this myself.
Stay away from copper as much as you can, it is often more expensive for the modules and uses a lot more power then optics.
Intel SFP cards can be picky with SFP's. You may find generic cheap DAC or AOC won't work, if you can try to find preloved units with SFP modules.
Switching is expensive.

Initially I did the 10Gb link from Core to Edge, then from Core to Firewall and finally clients. I have maybe 3 clients connected via fibre directly and then another client on a 4 1Gb interface LACP connection. It's probably been a huge waste of time and money and it haunts me now as newer and shinier kit is coming out that I now can't get into as the entry pricing is so high as I refuse to back down to 1Gb.
 
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