SOLVED Intel NIC 10gb

[Bobbiek04]

I use my freenas box to store and edit photos through a windows share to my main computer. I wanted to upgrade this link so I purchased 2 Intel X540 NIC's. I wired the two up directly and only got gigabit speeds. Suspecting the cheap Ethernet connectors from the hardware store, I upgraded to tool-less shielded connectors from cable matters. Hooked those up and no connection. Found out that the cat 6a wire I pulled was 28 AWG and therefore too thin to work with the connectors. So I upgraded that to a 23 AWG S/FTP cat 7 cable. I put new connectors on, and things connect but just a gigabit speeds. For the life of me I cannot figure out what is wrong. I've scoured the forms and cant find anything that has worked. Any input would be appreciated!

Here are my specs:
Freenas 11.1 Stable
Supermicro X10SL7-F
Intel Xeon 1220
32gb of ram
Intel X540 NIC

Windows 10 Home
AMD 8350
16gb ram
Intel X540 NIC

Interface settings, tuneables, and jperf results are all attached.

 

[nightshade00013]

You do realize that on the computer you are attempting to connect to the FreeNAS with you will have to use the ip address that the other network is to see the increased speeds right. So if the new network is 192.168.50.2 you need to plug that into your file manager or map a new network drive to a different letter that is set to that IP address. It will not automatically use the one you previously had setup.

I would also say don't try and "tune" things until you are sure it is working. After things are known to work correctly you can try fiddling with stuff but honestly unless you have a bunch of vDev's or SSD's or SLOG the tunes will probably do little with a 10G connection.

 

[Bobbiek04]

Good idea, but I did think of that. The iperf result I posted was on the 192.168.50.X subnet which a configured for the direct link. Attached is another iperf result on the 192.168.1.X subnet that runs though my switch.

Any other ideas???

 

[Bobbiek04]

I just re-read the post by @stefanb and his issue makes it sound like less of a cable issue and more of a hardware one. With the hardware thought, I double checked the ifconfig and didn't see anything that jumped out.

 

[c32767a]

I just re-read the post by @stefanb and his issue makes it sound like less of a cable issue and more of a hardware one. With the hardware thought, I double checked the ifconfig and didn't see anything that jumped out.

That ifconfig shows the ix0 interface linked at 1000BaseT, which is 1Gb/s and is consistent with the iperf results you're getting.

Are the 2 machines close enough that you can get a factory Cat6a cable and connect the 2?

Are you 100% sure both sides of the connection are 10G baseT cards?

 

[Bobbiek04]

Are the 2 machines close enough that you can get a factory Cat6a cable and connect the 2?

I can run a cable on the floor for testing purposes, but the end goal is to have this run inside the walls. Pulling an already terminated cable would be exciting, but I ordered this cable from amazon and it will be here Wednesday. So stay tuned.

Are you 100% sure both sides of the connection are 10G baseT cards?

I'm currently at work, so short of taking photos of the cards I did remote in and take some screen grabs from both the windows side and the freenas side of the drivers. See attached.

 

[c32767a]

I can run a cable on the floor for testing purposes, but the end goal is to have this run inside the walls. Pulling an already terminated cable would be exciting, but I ordered this cable from amazon and it will be here Wednesday. So stay tuned.



I'm currently at work, so short of taking photos of the cards I did remote in and take some screen grabs from both the windows side and the freenas side of the drivers. See attached.

Ok, so the cards both identify as 10G.. That's a good sign.. :)

What length cable is in the walls? In order to pass certification, Cat6a has a very strict set of guidelines on where it can be run, including how close to other sources of EM energy like AC power, other structured cabling, etc.. Without a certification tool it would be difficult to know for sure your wiring is suitable.

If your test cable from Amazon links at 10G, you'll probably want to find someone who can advise on how to get your in-wall cable to support 10G data rates.

 

[Bobbiek04]

What length cable is in the walls?

The length is only about 50-75 feet, so I doubt that is the issue.

One thing I did think of, does it matter that the cables will be a straight through connection? All the cables that I have found are not crossover cables. When I did my terminations, I tried both configurations, but was curious.

Also for information sake, here is the cable and terminators I used. I had a hard time finding a termination that is rated for the 28awg that most cables are, so the cable may be some overkill. let me know if you see any issues.

 

[c32767a]

The length is only about 50-75 feet, so I doubt that is the issue.

One thing I did think of, does it matter that the cables will be a straight through connection? All the cables that I have found are not crossover cables. When I did my terminations, I tried both configurations, but was curious.

Also for information sake, here is the cable and terminators I used. I had a hard time finding a termination that is rated for the 28awg that most cables are, so the cable may be some overkill. let me know if you see any issues.

There is no concept of crossover cables in 1000BaseT or 10GbaseT. The PHY automatically determines the pin mapping.

I'm not current on Cat6 +. I can't advise anything on the physical connections.

 

[Bobbiek04]

Just got home and opened my amazon package (got this cable), plugged everything in aaaaand no dice. I got the same gigabit speed that I have been. Windows negotiated a 1Gb connection and jperf shows the same. I've attached the results (jperf3).

Out of frustration I deleted the network interface in Freenas and started from scratch. My intel card has two ports, so i switched ports and redid the network interface. then sure enough, windows shows a 10Gb connection, run jperf and see for yourself (jperf4). I even used the old cables I had already run through the walls with the same result.

Ultimately, I don't know what the issue was. If someone else is having similar issues, my advice would be to start again from scratch before buying yet another cable. Also, a shout out to @c32767a and @nightshade00013 for their input. Without you guys I wouldn't be able to mark this one solved!