Hi all,
Couple of quick questions, that my research (both on the wider web, and on this forum in particular) have not been able to answer. The gist of it is, I'm researching upgrading to 10G at home. I think the best way is to use Intel X540's in my FreeNAS boxes and the client PC's. (I understand I'll need a 10G-capable switch too.)
1. Are the two ports necessary for the full 10G speeds? Are are they 10G-capable each? My understanding is that the X540 cards just like an NC360T, but 10G instead of 1G (in other words, if used in a client PC, only one port would be used);
2. For the client PC's specifically - what are the PCIe specs that I need? I understand the card has a physical PCIe x8 connection, and that it uses Gen2, not Gen3 PCIe. I also understand that, if using x4 lanes, throughput will be affected - the documentation I've read says that throughput will be reduced to about 70% effectiveness...when using both ports. (Hence my question above.) Reason I ask is that I'm also planning, in the next few months, on upgrading two of my client PC's, and I'm always trying to keep the main x16 PCIe slot free and available for future upgrades. So, I'm trying to determine if I need to invest in a motherboard that can support at least x8 in another slot, or if I could get away with x4 (like the vast majority of the more mainstream ones seem to have) for the X540.
And, and bonus question : My understanding is that FreeNAS now supports the X540's without issue. Is this correct?
Thanks much!
Couple of quick questions, that my research (both on the wider web, and on this forum in particular) have not been able to answer. The gist of it is, I'm researching upgrading to 10G at home. I think the best way is to use Intel X540's in my FreeNAS boxes and the client PC's. (I understand I'll need a 10G-capable switch too.)
1. Are the two ports necessary for the full 10G speeds? Are are they 10G-capable each? My understanding is that the X540 cards just like an NC360T, but 10G instead of 1G (in other words, if used in a client PC, only one port would be used);
2. For the client PC's specifically - what are the PCIe specs that I need? I understand the card has a physical PCIe x8 connection, and that it uses Gen2, not Gen3 PCIe. I also understand that, if using x4 lanes, throughput will be affected - the documentation I've read says that throughput will be reduced to about 70% effectiveness...when using both ports. (Hence my question above.) Reason I ask is that I'm also planning, in the next few months, on upgrading two of my client PC's, and I'm always trying to keep the main x16 PCIe slot free and available for future upgrades. So, I'm trying to determine if I need to invest in a motherboard that can support at least x8 in another slot, or if I could get away with x4 (like the vast majority of the more mainstream ones seem to have) for the X540.
And, and bonus question : My understanding is that FreeNAS now supports the X540's without issue. Is this correct?
Thanks much!
