HP NC550SFP

[C4PPY]

Hello,

I have installed FreeNAS 11.2U6 on one of my machines - but the HP NC550SFP does not show up after the install.
It is initialized during the boot, but seems like the driver is not catching it.


Please help :)

 

[jgreco]

The NC550 isn't particularly FreeBSD-compatible. There's a listing of highly compatible cards in the 10 Gig Networking Primer. We generally suggest using hardware that's highly compatible. Emulex has never been good about FreeBSD driver support, and even if you could get it to "work", there's no reason to think that it would offer the kind of stability under heavy loads demanded by a NAS.

 

[C4PPY]

Ohh Okay, thanks for the info.
So a Chelsio T3 would be a great replacement?

 

[jgreco]

If you want top of the line, Chelsio T520-CR is where it's at. Since the time when the 10G Primer was written, Intel has also fixed its driver issues with the X520-DA2 or X520-SR2 and can often be found dirt cheap on eBay from companies that specialize in recycling gear from data centers. Do NOT buy Chinese cards or ones that have obvious Chinese nexus (sellers in LA or Bay Areas, especially when they are also selling knock-off purses and children's toys). The sellers where they are clearly selling massive amounts of DC kit are usually just fine.

I specifically recommend both of these because I have firsthand knowledge that they work flawlessly. The T3 is an older generation card which is reported to work fine, last I heard, but be aware that it is only PCIe 1.1. I strongly suggest you use the forum search feature to check for success reports with any proposed card.