10GbE Hardware for Direct Attached

[eroji]

I am looking for getting 2 reasonably priced 10GbE (fibre or copper) cards that works in FreeNAS and ESXi so I can directly attach the storage pool from FreeNAS. Are there any recommended cards that are supported?

 

[Ericloewe]

Intel if you need to buy new but can't afford a near-kilobuck Chelsio.
Chelsio if you find a nice eBay deal or if you have the budget to spend.

 

[eroji]

Any particular models I should be looking for?

 

[Ericloewe]

Any particular models I should be looking for?

Don't know about the Chelsios, but the Intels are all more or less the same, except that the newer ones use a lot less power.

 

[jgreco]

The X520-DA2 (dual card) will drop into ESXi 4.1, 5.*, 6.* and just magically work. It is also fine with FreeNAS 9.3. We prefer to avoid getting different magic cards for different kinds of boxes.

 

[Darren Myers]

I have 2 of these http://www.ebay.com/itm/251754445829?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT , one in my freenas server the other in my windows box. But i will soon be migrating to ESXi + my FreeNAS. You'll find the SFP's here http://www.ebay.com/itm/281463902151?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

 

[DataKeeper]

If you want copper there is the Intel X540T1 or T2 10Gb. FreeNas/BSD supported I've read and down the road can be plugged into a 10GBase-T switch.

I'm almost done my hardware selection for my FN box and I'll be opting for one of these two cards. Initially it'll likely be plugged into a Netgear gigabit switch however I'm really looking at their 10-Port XS708E 10Gb switch. Not likely going to make the budget this go around.