Recommended 10G/SFP+ NIC for Dell R720XD Running ESXi 6
-
I am upgrading my my ESXi6 hosts to 10GE and would like to know which NIC you would recommend. I will be connecting them to Extreme Summit x450-G2 switches via SFP+ and hope to use off-brand "compatible" transceivers and cables from fs.com. I was looking at this one
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA24G1XA6455 but saw the firmware locking comments. Not sure if that is only for direct connections or if it also applies to NIC-to-switch, as well.I would appreciate any advice.
-
That is the NICs I put in my server. Just be sure to install the Intel Driver, the one windows installs first doesn't work properly.
-
@brianlittlejohn Are you running to a switch?
-
@wrx7m I'm running straight into my backup storage.
-
I chatted with fs.com and they say that they ensure the compatibility with the NIC before it ships. I guess I can order the transceiver first and see what happens.
-
Dell Servers?
-
@aaronstuder Yes. Dell 2 - R720XD and 1- R710
-
I was looking at the DA as posted above but realized that DA was for Direct Attached (it's been a long week) and so I shifted search to the SR version. So far it looks like the transceivers come in the card with LC connections.
http://www.staples.com/intel-E10G42BFSR-Converged-Network-Adapter-2-x-LC/product_IM1BH2870
-
@wrx7m Nice. We have the same and are looking to do the same!
How do you connect this to other stuff? I have never user SPF before...
-
@aaronstuder Well, I only have a little experience with the optical side of things. I am trying to dig up as much info as possible.
-
@aaronstuder said:
@wrx7m Nice. We have the same and are looking to do the same!
How do you connect this to other stuff? I have never user SPF before...
With Direct Attached, you are basically using a short run copper cable going from device to device or device to switch.
This is a little dated but has some good overview info on the different 10Ge choices (Page 4 on).
http://wiki.networksecuritytoolkit.org/nstwiki/images/NETGEAR_Whitepaper_10_Gigabit.pdf -
@aaronstuder said:
How do you connect this to other stuff? I have never user SPF before...
SPF+, SPF only does GigE. The SPF+ port actually takes a tiny adaprter that connects via a little bread board like a tiny PCI slot. The SPF+ unit itself is the physical adapter and it then has the optical or copper port that you plug into. So you need an SPF+ adapter to go into your SPF+ NIC before you can plug something into it. SPF+ supports all kinds of media including RJ45, several types of optical, TwinAx, etc.
