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6 Replies Last post: Nov 4, 2009 11:16 AM by ewengerixia  

Recommended 10GbE adapters? posted: Jun 16, 2009 7:04 PM

Click to view jcostom's profile Novice
jcostom
5 posts since
Mar 31, 2008
Greetings all..

I'm considering moving from 1G to 10G on our standalone ESXi 4.0 server in our lab. Anyone have recommendations? I need something that's got at least 1 SFP+ port, preferably 2, and will handle SR optics. Intel has served me well in the past, but I'm not married to them if there's something else that's going to work well.

While I'm not adverse to a trip to the "unsupported" side, I'd rather keep it simple, if possible.. :)

Any suggestions are welcome & appreciated..
Tags: esxi4, 4, vsphere, network, hardware, ethernet, 10g, xgbe, xge

Re: Recommended 10GbE adapters?

1. Jun 16, 2009 7:45 PM in response to: jcostom
Click to view weinstein5's profile Guru
weinstein5
6,331 posts since
Nov 19, 2005
Welcome to the forums - whatever you choose make sure it is on the Hardware Compatability List - http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php

If you find this or any other answer useful please consider awarding points by marking the answer correct or helpful

Re: Recommended 10GbE adapters?

2. Jun 16, 2009 8:22 PM in response to: weinstein5
Click to view jcostom's profile Novice
jcostom
5 posts since
Mar 31, 2008
Yes, I've seen the HCL. My question wasn't what was on the HCL, it was for recommendations, based on personal experience..

Thanks for the pointer though!

Re: Recommended 10GbE adapters?

3. Jun 17, 2009 11:02 AM in response to: jcostom
Click to view DSTAVERT's profile Virtuoso
DSTAVERT
2,418 posts since
Nov 30, 2003
Assuming this is storage related I would try reposting this in the vSphere\Storage forum.

Re: Recommended 10GbE adapters?

4. Jul 28, 2009 10:02 AM in response to: jcostom
Click to view douginator's profile Lurker
douginator
1 posts since
Jun 1, 2007

Cheers you need to confirm the Card has a corresponding Driver as well. The HCL denotes a number of Broadcom, Netxen and Intel Based cards and as you have stated Luck with Intel cards than you may be best sticking with these. Netxen and Broadcom are on the mark as well and with any of the cards you will need to confirm support for what you will be implementing them for I.E Jumbo Frame, TSO etc...

It is best to research a bit on the vendors sites.

You will have to research in greater detail which cards/vendorts allow for modification of options on the modules as well such a TX/RX Buffers etc...

IBM IBM 10 GbE PCIe SR Server Adapter\ NetXen Incorporated Network ESX / ESXi 4.0\*6\
IBM NetXtreme II 10 GigE Express Fiber SR Adapter\ Broadcom Corporation Network ESX / ESXi 4.0\*3\
Intel HP NC110T PCIe Gigabit Server Adapter\ Intel Corporation Network ESX / ESXi 4.0\*5\
Intel Intel 10 Gigabit AF DA Dual Port Server Adapter\ Intel Corporation Network ESX / ESXi 4.0\*4\
Intel Intel 10 Gigabit AT Server Adapter\ Intel Corporation Network ESX / ESXi 4.0\*4\
Intel Intel 10 Gigabit CX4 Dual Port Server Adapter\ Intel Corporation Network ESX / ESXi 4.0\*4\

Re: Recommended 10GbE adapters?

5. Jul 28, 2009 8:44 PM in response to: douginator
Click to view Schorschi's profile Expert
Schorschi
743 posts since
Jul 6, 2005
We are looking at Mellanox and Chelsio for 10GB adapters. Taking them head to head.

Re: Recommended 10GbE adapters?

6. Nov 4, 2009 11:16 AM in response to: Schorschi
Click to view ewengerixia's profile Lurker
ewengerixia
1 posts since
Jul 17, 2008
What kinds of tests are you planning to run for comparing these two adapters?

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