10GB ethernet Card?

Anyone know of a 10GB ethernet card that can be used with Windows XP? Either PCI or PCIe?

 

All ethernet cards that are capable of 10.0 Gbps speed were probably manufactured long after official support for Windows XP ended, so I doubt they have drivers for and will work with Windows XP.

Why don't you use an ethernet card that's capable of 1.0 Gbps speed?

 

That doesn't help.

 

There are 10Gbit adapters for Windows XP. Many people using them will install Windows Vista or Windows 7 drivers onto XP though



Chelsio do native XP drivers for 10Gbe


You could run the Chelsio 10GbE Dual SFP+ N320E T320 at 20Gbit.

There is one going cheap here.


https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Chelsio-...817625&hash=item2ceb97b354:g:Gj8AAOSw3jNc7QBZ


However it will be utterly useless unless you are running a managed 10gbit or preferably a managed 25Gbit switch. You can pick up second hand Cisco Catalysts for under $2000 (£1000)


Remember you need to be running at PCIE X8 minimum, but preferably PCE X16 otherwise no point.


The only reason to run at these kind of speeds is if you are using multiple computers, as one system.


Alternatively you could pick yourself up dual or quad port 1Gbit cards and bridge them for either 2Gbit or 4 Gbit. Then you only have to pay out for Cat5 or Cat6 rather than Cat7 or Fibre and you can get away with a cheap managed switch of even go for unmanaged.


For instance this switch will allow you to push up to 2Gbit and then you only need dual cards on PCI-X or PCI E x4


https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NetFu-PO...hDarwoV3BBEV2b&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851


Hope this helps.

 

Helps tremendously. I already have an ethernet backbone setup in my house with Cat7 wiring. I was able to get a few hundred feet from a thrift store.

 

Madeleine Takam,

I am revisiting the idea of getting a 10GBE card, and think that the Chelsio may be the way to go.

http://service.chelsio.com/portals/nec/TeamingDriverInstallationGuide.pdf

This doc discusses drivers for XP/2003 and the T320 card.

http://service.chelsio.com/driver-archives.html

This page appears to be the one to retrieve drivers.

Part number Card 110-1088-30 appears to correspond to Chelsio T320 and N320E, does this sound right to you?

And this card does appear to be capable of running two 10GBE ports. And, correct me if I'm wrong, there should be no issue using a copper RJ-45 transceiver?

The Cisco Catalyst switch you proposed does appear to be presently out of my budget range.

Dialog you can skip...
I have been observing some switches that will run at least one 10GBE link. I would, in general, use a 10GBE link between my desk station (where the edge router and modem stay) and a computer equipment station in my basement. I would, at least, want a managed switch with one 10G that could also control LAG/LACP for the common ethernet ports.

The NAS I am looking to purchase sometime this year will have 4 built in 1GB ethernet ports, with an 10GBE card that can be added later. But I suspect that four 1gig ports will be enough for now if I had at least a couple of budget switches with a 10GBE port.​

Trying to work things out, slowly for sure.

I appreciate your input!

 

Hi Secpar


Sorry for the late response, I have been away for a few days. I don’t follow threads and I think you need to post as a reply for me to get an email.


The Driver seems to be spot on.


Regarding the Rj-45 from my observations from the company I used to work for. They used a mixture of CAT6, CAT6a, CAT 7 and Optical Fibre all on 10Gb.


When the company I worked for, changed over to 10Gb, I was given five 1Gb 4 port Cards and about 20 CAT 5E Cables, plus an old 1Gbit Cisco Catalyst multiport Managed Switch. You can now pick the up for as little as £75 ($100) on ebay


But you can pick up a Managed Cisco 10Gb switch on ebay £150 at most. See below


https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cisco-25...837256?hash=item2d2259c6c8:g:OJMAAOSwYhhgAHQC


Here is the info and specs on it


https://www.broadbandbuyer.com/store/10-gigabit-switches/24-port-10gbe-switches/?t=377&sort=1


You could probably make them an offer of £100 and they would accept. Bound to be cheap enterprise kit in the USA too.


In the end it’s trial and error or experimentation, as I call it.


Have a nice weekend


Madaleine

 

Yeah, that 250X switch looks like it would fit the bill, perfectly. That one alone would easily replace my POE switch for cameras and the smaller Netgear switch I'm using.

That seller doesn't appear to ship to the states, and all state side offerings on ebay are $500 or more for that switch, OR the 24-port version.

I am not presently working in an IT field, going to school for IT certs starting in February. Been involved with computers recreationally for a long time.

 

Just thought I'd share, that I was able to pickup a Cisco SG350X-24P for $300. It was listed for $400 as an Open Box item... when I get it, I'll be able to see how new or used it really is.

 

The Cisco SG350X-24P looks a really good managed switch from my reading. Cisco are excellent for documentation, firmware and support. I was able to get download and support by just copying and pasting “Cisco SG350X-24P”

There shouldn’t be any problem if the vender has been honest. The only thing I have had to do in the past with enterprise kit, is swap out fans for quiet ones; However the Cisco SG350X-24P looks reasonably quiet, at between 40 and 50 dB. Unless you are going to have it sitting on your desk - should be fine.

Good luck with your set up. Post the results of what you actually get in real world time, say transferring a 50GB file.

 

Will do. This switch will be the one I setup at my desk station. The plan will be to get the quad card going first, as I already have that for now. Then link one of the 10G ethernets to the wall plug that connects to the station in the basement, where at some point, I will get a 48 port 250X or 350X switch with POE. The POE part will allow me to replace, and perhaps sell a POE switch I bought just for the camera system.

I always, or tend to always, building for greater than my needs so I have plenty to work with.

 

Must admit I am a bit lost now. - - - I am guessing you are using the 4 port card for testing? I presumed you wanted the 4 port 1GHz card for an entirely different project, perhaps a music server, that doesn’t need the transfer rate? There is certainly no point in bridging – using multiple cables on any card running off 33MHz PCI. But you obviously know this.

Your 4 Port PCI card will always be really slow. It will be restricted by the 33MHz limit. PCI-X can run at up to 133MHz, so is good for 1GHz cards IE it is 4 times the speed. Although you have a Quad Gbit card you will see a massive bottleneck with the 33MHz interface. I just presumed you didn’t care as you already had a system built with only spare PCI slots.

Your 10Gbit card is PCI Express 4X so can cope with the speeds. Surely you have a single port 1Ghz card lying about for testing? I have scores of old SCSI, Network, Graphics, RAID and sound cards lying about.

So I am really curious, What are you actually going to use the 4 port 1GHz PCI card for eventually? Lets face it, it is a really esoteric card to enquire about and purchase.

Incidentally I found the increase in speed was much greater upgrading to a managed switch than my attempts at bridging multi-port cards on my old GS116, which to be honest didn't even come remotely close to doubling the speed. Managed Switch basically gave me the full potential of 1Ghz without massive collisions.

 

I have a lot going on in my house. Preparing for a NAS, upgrading to 10GB on the links between network segments.

On most of my computer stations, they have 2 built in NICs, and the quad port is going in an enclosure that will get passed around between stations and do tests.

I will eventually be getting the 10G chelsio cards, but right now I'm going to do tests with the quad HP PCI card.

The end goal is going to be maximum throughput for the NAS on the network.

So there is a degree of testing taking place, and there is also a degree of advancement and learning.

 

Does it look to you like the HP NC522SFP card is also a viable option? This is a 10G card like the Chelsio,

It appears to have drivers.

x86
https://support.hpe.com/hpsc/swd/public/detail?swItemId=MTX_94915ececd234192b3b1494786#tab3

x64
https://support.hpe.com/hpsc/swd/public/detail?swItemId=MTX_6c31b28fe5c9429f9d491e330f#tab4

 

You would obviously be installing Server 2003 drivers on XP. I checked the driver package there is a lot in it, so I am not sure what is universal and what might be specific to Server 2003.

But for $30 it is certainly going cheap and I would say is worth a punt.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HP-NC522...32-B21-468349-001-BOTH-BRACKETS-/172253092604

Server 2003 is here if you need it. Along with anything else you might require software wise.

https://ulozto.net/hledej?q=server+2003

 

Much appreciated! Thanks again!

I have found that a lot of times Server 2003 drivers work for XP, and vice versa. So, yes, it will be a punt in a manner of speaking. Also, I have discovered through others that, sometimes Win 2000 drivers can work in XP (though, I'm running mainly XP 64 bit, so it doesn't exactly apply here).

And, while we may certainly be the only two talking so far, I'm sure others are gathering information from this and could be planning their own upgrades.

 

Hi Secpar

I checked your screen prints – what adaptors are you using?

Big project for next few weeks – so quick answer. You will always be limited by the slowest component in the chain. I used to use 1GBit network with 1Gbit adapters. It generally showed up as running at about 25% - IE about 250Mbit.

Then I was given 4 port cards, loads of network cables and a managed 1Gb switch. Rather than be sensible I connected everything up together so 4 cables of each workstation to Managed switch and then I bridged using standard Intel Gbit Network Driver/Software. Increase in speed was to about 75% of 1Gbit. I didn’t bother checking set-up and just left it was happy enough.

Early last year had problems with file transfers, so Jen (Mr Siamese Cat) helped me and since Pre-Covid my husband and I invited him over for Sunday Lunch. He came with one of his smaller Supermicro’s and a one-off solid copper base laptop. Spent all day experimenting with short and long cables single, dual and quad cables single port, dual port and quad port adaptors, along with unmanaged and managed switches.

Very definite conclusion was it was all down to the Managed Switch compared to Unmanaged, quad cables did not seem to increase speed of dual cables when bridged. There was a slight increase in speed with dual cables. Any transfers to Laptop’s were knocked down compared to Workstations. All my machines are Supermicro’s, likewise Mr Siamese Cats machines are too. All Network cards were run off PCI-X at 133mhz or the 4X PCI-E on one machine.

My set up is now bridged dual cables (Cat 5E I think) and of course my managed switch. My Network generally runs at 3 times the speed of when I had single cable unmanaged switch.

You will only see 1Gbit if your adaptors are only 1Gbit. It doesn’t matter how many ports they have. Your network system will run at speed of slowest component – the bottleneck.

Check system with a 10Gbit adaptor card sitting on PCI Express on each machine with a two short factory 10Gbit specified cables running to the managed switch, otherwise you can’t test anything if you are changing all parameters at once.

I will also post to thread (Without your Screen shots), so people can see thread in case anyone else is thinking of going 10Gbit.

All the best

Madeleine


Your Question


So, I've got a SG350X-24P and a SG350X-48MP setup.

Between them, there is a combination of CAT7 and CAT6A wiring.

SG350X-24P > CAT6A to a wall plug module.
Wall module over CAT7 > surface mount module at the other station, about 30-35 feet max.
Surface mount module > CAT6A connecting to SG350X-48MP

The switches only appear to be connecting at 1000.

Am I missing something?? Any recommendations?

 

Hi Secpar

I just had a thought, but don’t want to sound patronising, I am sure you are fully aware already, but just in case. Your SG350X-24P has two 10Gbit ports; Your SG350X-48MP has four 10Gbit ports. All the other ports will show up as running at 1Gbit, because that is what they are. Only devices connected to the 10Gbit ports will show up running at 10Gbit and then only if they are 10Gbit adapter cards running on the 133mhz PCI-X or PCI Express 4X or greater.

 

I think I discovered the issue. I setup both switches next to each other, and used a CAT6A cable to connect the two and the inferface shows 10G connection.

I think I am pretty sure it's the keystone modular jacks in between. So, I will have to replace them with at least a CAT7A rated modular jack at each junction/wall plate.

 

The SG350X-24P actually has two combo ports (shared RJ45/SFP+) and two SFP+ ports. Both switches (SG350X-24P and SG350X-48MP) have this. Each switch will support up to four 10GB connections. Stock photos don't always show this.