Higher than 1Gpbs from iMac to FreeNAS - best option speed/money discussion...

[Robert76]

What options I have? I have an iMac with 1x1gbps ethernet port and 1x Thunderbolt-1 with adapter to 1gbps ethernet port, so in theory iMac could establish connection with FreeNAS on 2gbps...

Options I'm aware of....
1. LACP ? Will it work? I read somewhere that it helps if many hosts will connect to FreeNAS and FreeNAS could connect each client host on 1gbps but will not increase speed for 1 client...

2. Expensive thunderbolt to 10gbps adapter ,a few models exists but costs around 500$ but would give theoretically 10gbps

Any other options?

2gbps, 4 etc. I could also consider...if small cost involved

 

[Chris Moore]

1. Lacp ? Will IT work?

No.

2. Expensive thunderbolt to 10gbps adapter

This works. The cost of having a computer with no card slots to put expansion cards into.

 

[Robert76]

Right Chris, I was writing my post on phone when dictionary was changing all to my mother tongue from english, so sorry for that.... now it is corrected...

1. Thanks for confirmation as I was close to invest in LACP switch that would be for nothing.... In my home network the only connection that I care about the speed higher than 1mbps is between my iMac and FreeNMAS... for all rest connections it basically does not matter as even 1mbps is much more than needed...

2. Yes, seems "apple boys"; -) always have to pay penalty for using apple staff... but I rather never go back to Windows.....

So if I need to stick to option 2 and "swallow this penalty frog" what 10gbps NIC is recommended for FreeNAS? any economic working option by default without additional magic to force it working?

 

[droeders]

So if I need to stick to option 2 and "swallow this penalty frog" what 10gbps NIC is recommended for FreeNAS? any economic working option by default without additional magic to force it working?

Take a look at this post for some 10Gb FreeNAS advice, including NICs that others have used:

https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?resources/10-gig-networking-primer.42/

 

[Robert76]

Nice reading, anyhow very concentrated on SPF+ when I'm looking for card with 10GBASE-T.

I'm using iMac so not possible to use 2 same cards on both ends with optical cable. I can buy Thunderbolt to RJ45 to acheieve 10gbps on iMac, so after I need RJ45 on FreeNAS side as well.... so far I saw some Chelsio recommended cards but all of them where SPF+ what does not match my needs....

 

[Chris Moore]

Here is a video describing how to add a PCIe card to a MAC. It can be done and you don't want RJ45.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWFG-FpWAmU
Here is the chassis:
http://www.sonnettech.com/product/echoexpress3d.html
There are options.
https://www.sonnetstore.com/collect...ers/products/twin-10gsfp-thunderbolt3-edition

 

[Robert76]

will I be limited with 15m spf+ connection? with RJ45 I could have 100m when using cat6a cable and I'm planning to put freenas in some distance as it is too noisy to keep it in my room at home...

so that model https://www.sonnetstore.com/collections/thunderbolt-10gbe-adapters/products/twin-10g seems to be better choice for me, it gives in addition 2 x RJ45 what I could use in the future... for some purpose as well... and probably cat6a or cat7 cable (especially long one) I suspect will be also much less expensive... - or maybe even 20-30 meters is not possible onm direct sfp+ connection... that would eliminate this option anyway....

So what I would go is the adapter to RJ45 + 20-30m cat6a cable + 10gbps NIC card in NAS, just cannot find cheap, good and working with FreeNAS RJ45 NIC card capable to operate easly with FreeNAS and server 10gbps....

except I can have sfp+ long distance connection without extra devices on the way increasing the cost of the whole setup... than I could also consider adapter to sfp+.... but the total cost is important of the whole setup...

 

[Chris Moore]

There are many used SFP+ options available. Don't buy it new, itis too expensive. Many data centers are retiring the 10GB network gear in favor of faster standards, so plenty of great gear is out there if you look for it. You can use SFP+ to fiber optic adapters at the end point and the fiber optic can be 100 meters if you want.


Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Tapatalk

 

[Robert76]

You can use SFP+ to fiber optic adapters at the end point and the fiber optic can be 100 meters if you want.

can you point me please on ebay to appropiate chelsio NIC having the needed adapter, there are many out there and I do not want to make a mistake especially that it will have to be send from USA to Poland so quite far distance.... I will need 2 such NICs...

 

[Constantin]

I have a TB2 OWC Helios 5 at home with a Myricom PCIe adapter in it. Then I added a myricom branded SFP+ module that could handle the fiber in my house. For short distances I recommend a twinax cable instead.

Chelsio 5xx series Cards allegedly also work for such external PCIe over thunderbolt chassis. Older chelsio cards don’t because they don’t support thunderbolt tunneling.

I hope the IO subsystem inside that old iMac can handle the faster connection. You put in a SSD? If not, don’t bother with 10GB networking until you do.

Also, is the onboard SATA connection faster than 150MB/s? If not, don’t bother with 10GB networking.

Lastly, 10GB connections mostly make sense for large files if you have a HDD-based server. Small files have so much overhead that it’s harder to saturate a 1GB connection.

 

[Ericloewe]

You can use SFP+ to fiber optic adapters at the end point and the fiber optic can be 100 meters if you want.

Or even several kilometers. But silly me is using 1GBaseLR to cover 20m or so. I was honestly afraid that the SFPs might not like such a strong signal, but everything works perfectly.

 

[Chris Moore]

Or even several kilometers.

I have not bought the adapters in a while but, as I recall, the modules that were capable of kilometers were more expensive.

can you point me please on ebay to appropiate chelsio NIC having the needed adapter,

I will try to get something for you today. We had an internet outage at work yesterday because someone, somewhere, damaged the fiber connecting our main trunk. The backup is slower and was dedicated to mission critical communication. Hopefully, we are back online today.

 

[Constantin]

FWIW, I bought this Myricom card at Amazon for my MacBook. That purchase didn't come with transceivers, despite what the listing claimed. However, the card has two SFP+ cages and Myricom has a proper OS X installer for it that you can download from their website (unlike Chelsio at the time). Plus it works in an external thunderbolt enclosure (unlike Chelsio cards before the 5xx series).

To minimize potential OEM-induced compatibility issues, I recommend you find a Myricom SFP module as well. Thus, match brands for both the SFP+ module and the company that made the card with the SFP+ cage. Beyond that point, you can mix and match (i.e. attach a computer with an all-Intel card to a 10GB network that also features computers with all-Myricom card(s), etc.) because the 10GB network itself is interface hardware-agnostic.

Myricom-branded transceivers of all flavors can be found on eBay for about $15-$30. I bought the Myricom 10G-SFP-SR because my house has that kind of fiber installed (OM1). OM1 is good for small distances, low cost applications.

Pre-confected fiber assemblies can cost as little as the raw fiber. Thus, I would measure the distance carefully and then order the fiber appropriate for your application with connectors already in place. The Connectors should be the same size/type as the ones on your SFP inserts (usually LC, IIRC)

 

[Ericloewe]

I have not bought the adapters in a while but, as I recall, the modules that were capable of kilometers were more expensive.

Dunno about 10GbE, but it was something like twice the price for LR on GbE, which is still very reasonable.