10gb PCIe nic

[sandys]

That sounds decent for your little box, good price too, my x550 isn't too bad works passively without overheating unlike the old Intel ones but is ~10-11w, so that realtek is significantly lower. Though the AC113 on my current board is not far off at 3.5w and is fairly well established now so will be supported in more software.

 

[Meddling-Monk]

Linux or *BSD? Both server OS have solid, battle-tested Intel and ConnectX driver support but Marvell has traditionally lagged. Since the Marvell/Aquantia chipset also lacks a ton of offloads compared to the other two, and they're available at a similar price, it's a no-brainer for a proper server setup. While I'm sure Marvell/Aquantia does the job for a basic home system or desktop, it's more in line with Realtek stuff than 'real' NICs for heavy lifting and server work. IOMMU, SR-IOV, offloads for tc/flowtable/conntrack/dpdk/vpp, etc are all leagues ahead on Intel/Mellanox - if they're present on the Marvell chipset at all.

Ah, sorry I forgot to reply to this a while back as got sidetracked.

The fileserver is simply a desktop that's been put aside (quite literally, been placed horizontally to fit onto a shelf for now) so it's actually running Windows 10. And I'm the only other user, so the concerns regarding offloads and other work wasn't important there. I'm sure I'll run into those and find the weakness' of the setup here when I run into it in the future, but for now, for a 1 to 1 setup (much like OP @rp2000 ), so it should be fine as is for now (until we expand out).

 

[Rainmaker]

Ah, sorry I forgot to reply to this a while back as got sidetracked.

The fileserver is simply a desktop that's been put aside (quite literally, been placed horizontally to fit onto a shelf for now) so it's actually running Windows 10. And I'm the only other user, so the concerns regarding offloads and other work wasn't important there. I'm sure I'll run into those and find the weakness' of the setup here when I run into it in the future, but for now, for a 1 to 1 setup (much like OP @rp2000 ), so it should be fine as is for now (until we expand out).

It's OK. You're running Windows so it can't get any worse.

 

[aaronyuri]

It's OK. You're running Windows so it can't get any worse.

Hey, now; Windows can do DCB and RDMA with the right (ahem, Mellanox) NICs... It's just not great at high pps - throughput is fine though! I say not great at high pps, it is terrible.

 

[ChrisD.]

Hey, now; Windows can do DCB and RDMA with the right (ahem, Mellanox) NICs... It's just not great at high pps - throughput is fine though! I say not great at high pps, it is terrible.

At least with a 10 GbE NIC there's usually plenty of bandwidth spare for it to share your activity with its cloud servers, send you a bunch of ads in your OS, and generally snoop around at your activity to share with advertising partners.

 

[Avalon]

At least with a 10 GbE NIC there's usually plenty of bandwidth spare for it to share your activity with its cloud servers, send you a bunch of ads in your OS, and generally snoop around at your activity to share with advertising partners.

Tiny10 or at this point 11 would be my default starting point in avoiding that, closely followed by Ubuntu

 

[aaronyuri]

At least with a 10 GbE NIC there's usually plenty of bandwidth spare for it to share your activity with its cloud servers, send you a bunch of ads in your OS, and generally snoop around at your activity to share with advertising partners.

None of what you said is false... Microsoft bad.

But Windows can do DCB and RDMA, and make use of that 10GbE throughput (and more). Not praising Windows, just stating facts. OP is using Windows after all. As much as I shudder at the idea.

 

[rp2000]

A lot of hate on my basic setup , but it works for me.

This is the ISP router I will connect everything to:

Cómo es el router Zte F8748Q WiFi 7 de fibra Pro-Digi 10Gb

Qué tal es el primer router con WiFi 7 que Digi instala en la fibra de 10 Gb, el Zte F8748Q. Velocidad máxima que puede alcanzar por wifi y por cable.

bandaancha.eu

It's made by ZTE (yep, Chinese!!!) If the performance is good I will get rid of my UDR (pretty much just used as a WiFi AP) which currently hangs of my existing ISP router (made by HGU!)



rp2000

 

[HEADRAT]

After some jiggery-pokery (and lots of help from Gemini) got smb-multichannel working, UNRAID on Aoostar WTR MAX and my Main PC, 5 x 1TB nvme in ZFS Cache, copying 43GB file from NAS to PC

This is with ancient Intel X520 dual SFP card.

 

[Makhaira]

No love for the CX4 in here?

 

[Rainmaker]

A lot of hate on my basic setup , but it works for me.

This is the ISP router I will connect everything to:

Cómo es el router Zte F8748Q WiFi 7 de fibra Pro-Digi 10Gb

Qué tal es el primer router con WiFi 7 que Digi instala en la fibra de 10 Gb, el Zte F8748Q. Velocidad máxima que puede alcanzar por wifi y por cable.

bandaancha.eu

It's made by ZTE (yep, Chinese!!!) If the performance is good I will get rid of my UDR (pretty much just used as a WiFi AP) which currently hangs of my existing ISP router (made by HGU!)



rp2000

No hate mate, just a bit of gentle derisory ribbing. If it works for you then that's all that matters. When you ask a bunch of nerds specialists what to spec for a particular area, they'll tell you how to do it 'properly'. That's not always the same thing as the 'good enough' cobbled together setup that works.

No love for the CX4 in here?

Absolutely, cracking cards. That's why I recommended one on page 1.

If you want to do it 'properly' with room for expansion I'd grab a cheap Mikrotik SFP+ switch like the CRS305-1G-4S+in and connect via DAC from a CX-4LX.

 

[aaronyuri]

No love for the CX4 in here?

This is not you.

Sorry, I missed the '€' sign. You'd be buying an inferior card to get new at the same money - the Intel cards are vastly superior for latency, stability, offload capabilities and driver support. Do you really only need a single device plugging in? You'd be better placed running your own router, or at least your own switch. That opens the possibility of running fibre on the LAN (or DAC), meaning you could grab a ConnectX-4 LX 10/25G card for buttons and have a far superior experience. If you just want fast, plug and play I'd go Intel. If you want to do it 'properly' with room for expansion I'd grab a cheap Mikrotik SFP+ switch like the CRS305-1G-4S+in and connect via DAC from a CX-4LX. Both are available with half height brackets and both will sit happily in a PCIe 4 slot.

Rainmaker has covered this off pretty well. Used server grade NICs will be the right play for 10GbE at home.

You should be able to find some cheap, even if you need to look at SFP cards and get an Ethernet transceiver. Look for certain chipsets (like ConnectX-4 - fantastic cards) that are branded by OEMs like HPE or Dell with their own models. You get the same thing underneath, just a different logo on the sticker. HPE 640FLR is an HPE example of the 10/25 CX-4.

 

[Makhaira]

Ahh ********

 

[rp2000]

I might as well ask here, rather than create a new thread. A friend has the 10GBps inbternet service already, what would people recommend as a cheap-ish 10GBps USBC/TB3/TB4 ethernet adaptor? I've never used a more than 1GB usb adaptor tbh (his devices are Apple with TB3 or TB4 but usbc 3.2 etc should work as well).


rp2000

 

[HEADRAT]

Gemini is your friend

For 10GbE (If you have a Thunderbolt 3/4 or USB4 Port)​

These adapters are designed for high-speed 10GbE performance and are the best fit for your request, assuming you have a compatible port.

• SABRENT USB4 to 10 Gigabit Ethernet Adapter (NT-P10G): This is a frequently recommended model that specifically uses the USB4 interface, making it compatible with Thunderbolt ports as well. It's known for solid performance and a durable aluminum build.
• OWC Thunderbolt 3 10G Ethernet Adapter: OWC is a well-regarded brand, especially in the Mac community. This adapter is known for its reliability and good thermal management, which is crucial for 10GbE adapters as they can run hot.
• QNAP QNA-UC10G1T: Another solid option that is often mentioned in reviews, this adapter is also USB4/Thunderbolt-based and delivers reliable 10GbE speeds.

 

[rp2000]

Gemini is your friend

For 10GbE (If you have a Thunderbolt 3/4 or USB4 Port)​

These adapters are designed for high-speed 10GbE performance and are the best fit for your request, assuming you have a compatible port.

• SABRENT USB4 to 10 Gigabit Ethernet Adapter (NT-P10G): This is a frequently recommended model that specifically uses the USB4 interface, making it compatible with Thunderbolt ports as well. It's known for solid performance and a durable aluminum build.
• OWC Thunderbolt 3 10G Ethernet Adapter: OWC is a well-regarded brand, especially in the Mac community. This adapter is known for its reliability and good thermal management, which is crucial for 10GbE adapters as they can run hot.
• QNAP QNA-UC10G1T: Another solid option that is often mentioned in reviews, this adapter is also USB4/Thunderbolt-based and delivers reliable 10GbE speeds.

Much pricier than I thought, but it seems they are all TB3 or TB4 which explains the price premium.


rp2000

 

[HEADRAT]

again ripped from Gemini

A standard USB-C 3.2 (even Gen 2 at 10Gbps) port generally doesn't have enough bandwidth for a stable 10GbE connection after accounting for protocol overhead. If your port is only USB 3.2, the fastest you can reliably get is a 5GbE or 2.5GbE adapter.

 

[rp2000]

again ripped from Gemini

A standard USB-C 3.2 (even Gen 2 at 10Gbps) port generally doesn't have enough bandwidth for a stable 10GbE connection after accounting for protocol overhead. If your port is only USB 3.2, the fastest you can reliably get is a 5GbE or 2.5GbE adapter.

I think I got my usb specs mixed up! I thought there was a 3.xx that supported 20gbps (which would be enough overhead) , but I think that's usb4!


rp2000

 

[HEADRAT]

Youfiber offer a 8Gbps service here, I'm currently on 2Gbps (symmetric). I have absolutely no 'need' for 8Gbps but I constantly find myself hovering over the 'upgrade' button!

 

[rp2000]

In the end I got both the Realtek 8127 and the Marvel AQC113. Both run fine albeit I had to fiddle with the power saving in the drivers for the Realtek to get it to work. No real power draw difference that I could tell tbh, maybe 1w difference, but it's quite hard to test.




rp2000