Equipment Supporting 2.5gbps and 5gbps

Fri Jan 29 17:15:57 UTC 2016

> Then you have the issue of Intel NICs refusing to support any optical modules that dont show up as Intel (and the associated work arounds, etc)

I just purchased some empty Intel X520-DA2 cards and then picked up the E10GSFPSR-compatible optics for them from Fiberstore.

I was worried about the compatibility issues, but they working great between my vSphere hosts and an HP Procurve 5406R V2 with J9538A 8p 10G-GbE SFP+ v2 zl modules (which happens to be filled with J9150A X132 compatible optics also from Fiberstore).

The switch complains that they are 3rd party and throws a big scary warning that HP will shun you for support, but they light up and pass traffic just the same.

>>> Tim Jackson <jackson.tim at gmail.com> 1/29/2016 7:58 AM >>>
On Jan 29, 2016 6:29 AM, "Jared Mauch" <jared at puck.nether.net> wrote:
> >  SFP+ Copper Twinax is another option for 10G to save on the
transceivers
>
>         Not really.
>
>         You can get 10G optics for sub-$10 and patch cords for cheap too,
> so why spend >$50 on DAC cables when you can go fiber and save
> space and money?
>
>         Walking into a colo and seeing orange or aqua cables always
> makes me sad as people overpaid and created themselves a future problem.

2x 850nm SFP+ @ $16
2m multimode jumper @ $3.16

Vs

2m SFP+ DAC @ $18

(From Fiberstore)

Then you have the issue of Intel NICs refusing to support any optical
modules that dont show up as Intel (and the associated work arounds, etc)

DACs are usually about 40% cheaper for server interconnect.