10Gb NIC PCIe X4

[NugentS]

Are there any PCIe 3 x4 10Gb NICs supported by TrueNAS Core?
Does the Aquantia work properly yet?

I really want to stick to Core for this box as memory will be tighter as well.

Looking to potentially build a new NAS (if the current one is U/S) - and the board I am looking at (at the moment) only has a PCIe 3X4 and its so small I don't think an X8 will fit even if the slot is open backed (and I am not getting out a dremel)

 

[NugentS]

And it appears that (and how I missed this I am not sure)

Intel X550-T2 (and T1) is PCIe 3x4. But its not SFP+ which I would prefer

 

[Davvo]

As far as I understand, avoiding Aquantia chips is suggested.

Look at this MCX311A-XCAT.

Mellanox MCX311A-XCAT CX311A ConnectX-3 EN 10G Ethernet 10GbE SFP+ | eBay

Le migliori offerte per Mellanox MCX311A-XCAT CX311A ConnectX-3 EN 10G Ethernet 10GbE SFP+ sono su eBay ✓ Confronta prezzi e caratteristiche di prodotti nuovi e usati ✓ Molti articoli con consegna gratis!

www.ebay.it

 

[NugentS]

Yeah - aquantia would have made things easy (and possibly not work) unless I moved to Scale - which (again) I do not want to do for this box

Is that Mellanox a drop in device - or di I have to worry about flashing with firmware to make it work?

 

[Davvo]

As far as I know it's plug and play, but I have no hands on experience with it.

You might also want to read the following resource.

Resource - High Speed Networking Tuning to maximize your 10G, 25G, 40G networks

Both FreeBSD and Linux come by default highly optimized for classic 1Gbps ethernet. This is by far the most commonly deployed networking for both clients and servers, and a lot of research has been done to tune performance especially for local...

www.truenas.com

 

[mindio]

I am solving the same situation, but on SCALE. So maybe won't start new thread, but will ask here...
So what's exactly is this "Aquantia" NIC, could anyone please share more details on the product (model)? So this would work with SCALE?

Also is this Mellanox MCX311A-XCAT card freindly enough with HP or Intel compatible DAC's or Intel FTLX8571D3BCV-IT trancievers?

 

[Davvo]

So what's exactly is this "Aquantia" NIC, could anyone please share more details on the product (model)? So this would work with SCALE?

You should read the following resource.

10 Gig Networking Primer

This is a discussion of high speed networking for newcomers, with specific emphasis on practical small- to medium-scale deployments for home labs or small office users. It originated with a forum thread located here that has many pages of...

www.truenas.com

Any Aquantia 10G NIC is to be avoided. Some SCALE folks might have a different experience, so open a thread in the SCALE section and ask them.

 

[firesyde424]

Are there any PCIe 3 x4 10Gb NICs supported by TrueNAS Core?
Does the Aquantia work properly yet?

I really want to stick to Core for this box as memory will be tighter as well.

Looking to potentially build a new NAS (if the current one is U/S) - and the board I am looking at (at the moment) only has a PCIe 3X4 and its so small I don't think an X8 will fit even if the slot is open backed (and I am not getting out a dremel)

We use Intel X520-DA2 and Intel X710-DA2 cards in all of our older TrueNAS Core builds. They work very well and we've had no issues with them. FreeBSD Intel driver support, for these cards at least, appears to be very strong. If SFP+ doesn't work for you, both model lines have Ethernet options as well.

We've also moved to the Intel X810 line for our newer TrueNAS Core builds and have had, so far, no issues with those either.

Incidentally, you don't need to get a PCIE 3.0 card. Any 3.0 card or later should be fine, pending driver support, of course.

 

[mindio]

You should read the following resource.

10 Gig Networking Primer

This is a discussion of high speed networking for newcomers, with specific emphasis on practical small- to medium-scale deployments for home labs or small office users. It originated with a forum thread located here that has many pages of...

www.truenas.com

Any Aquantia 10G NIC is to be avoided. Some SCALE folks might have a different experience, so open a thread in the SCALE section and ask them.

Yes, I did the reading. And it is all great, I also love and usually use Intel X520/X710. But this thread is about x4 PCIe slot.
So is there any SFP+ options besides 1 port Mellanox MCX311A-XCAT?

 

[Davvo]

So is there any SFP+ options besides 1 port Mellanox MCX311A-XCAT?

As far as I know, no. But I don't dabble in 10G.

 

[nabsltd]

Yes, I did the reading. And it is all great, I also love and usually use Intel X520/X710. But this thread is about x4 PCIe slot.
So is there any SFP+ options besides 1 port Mellanox MCX311A-XCAT?

Is it truly a PCI x4 slot physically? In other words, can you plug in an "x8" card and have it train at just x4? Is it PCIe 3.0 or higher?

If so, the X710-DA2 will work in a slot that is x8 physical and x4 electrical, and train at PCI 3.0 x4, which is enough to give you the full 10Gbps on each connection. You can get one for about $60 used.

And if you truly have an x4 physical slot, does it have the "tab" on the socket on the end farthest away from the bracket? If not, you can drop an x8 card in there. You can also do some surgery and remove the end to allow the x8 physical card to fit.