Non-compatibility-list-but-working 10gbe SFP+ cards?

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a13antichrist
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Non-compatibility-list-but-working 10gbe SFP+ cards?

Post by a13antichrist »

Am curious to know whether (and please spare the warnings etc etc) whether 4.3.6 devices are -strictly- limited to the 10gbe NICs on the compatibility list, or if there are other cards that are also known to work, just without the obvious QNAP official support? Or is it not allowed to discuss this situation on the official forum?
Eg. I can get hold of the Intel X520 or Mellanox X-2 cards at reasonable prices (<$50) so if I can succeed in adding one of these to my TS-470 Pro I'd be quite happy..
TVS-871 @ 58tb formatted R6, Mellanox MCX312b 10Gbe,
R9 5950x || RTX3090 || 64Gb 3600Mhz || Intel X520 10Gbe
MbP M1 Max || 32C GPU || 64Gb || QNAP T310G1S SFP+ 10Gbe
R3 2200G mini HTPC
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rafale
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Re: Non-compatibility-list-but-working 10gbe SFP+ cards?

Post by rafale »

In a nutshell, as long as the driver is in the kernel, it will work. QNAP has on their list, Emulex, Mellanox and intel cards which means that firmware for these three brands are all on the system. I have tested all 3 and they all work as long as the models are not so new that they require a newer kernel which is unlikely to happen.
For PCI 8x cards, I highly recommend the dual port emulex 14102. If you need a 4x then the single port Mellanox mcx311A is your best bet. Both run $15-$30
Last edited by rafale on Thu Dec 10, 2020 2:13 am, edited 1 time in total.
Server: TVS-872XT i9 9900 ES, 64GB DDR4 2666MHz, intel X550-T2, Asus RTX3070 Dual OC (On pico PSU), 2x Phison E12 1TB M.2, 4x Micron 5210 7.68TB, 4x WD Purple 4TB
Backup NAS: TS-473 20GB DDR4 2400MHz, Mellanox ConnectX3, 2x Samsung PM871b 256GB M.2, 4x WD Red 8TB
Former units: TVS-1282, TS-871, TS-469
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Re: Non-compatibility-list-but-working 10gbe SFP+ cards?

Post by a13antichrist »

rafale wrote: Tue Dec 08, 2020 2:37 pm emulex 141102. [..] Mellanox mcx311A
Are these specific acceptable chips or will any with somewhat-smiliar serials also work just fine? I'm in Europe so supply isn't exactly the same as the US. And how careful do I have to be with certain twinax/DAC cables eg as per HP cards? Is there an actual chart that lists cards that will --actually-- work (not just QNAP-official) -and- that we can generally trust to work with any twinax cables we happen to grab?
TVS-871 @ 58tb formatted R6, Mellanox MCX312b 10Gbe,
R9 5950x || RTX3090 || 64Gb 3600Mhz || Intel X520 10Gbe
MbP M1 Max || 32C GPU || 64Gb || QNAP T310G1S SFP+ 10Gbe
R3 2200G mini HTPC
Mikrotik switches & routers
OpenWRT & DD-WRT wifi
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Re: Non-compatibility-list-but-working 10gbe SFP+ cards?

Post by rafale »

You are overthinking it. Incompatibilities exist on DACs but they are rather exceptions than the rule. From my experience, everything works with everything... 802.11x standards exist for a reason. The only potential downsides of some models of these OEM cards are firmware upgradeability. The older emulex 11102 for example at one point gave me trouble when I upgraded the QNAP kernel... that's when I discovered that the card's firmware was very outdated. Updated the firmware and problem was gone.
Server: TVS-872XT i9 9900 ES, 64GB DDR4 2666MHz, intel X550-T2, Asus RTX3070 Dual OC (On pico PSU), 2x Phison E12 1TB M.2, 4x Micron 5210 7.68TB, 4x WD Purple 4TB
Backup NAS: TS-473 20GB DDR4 2400MHz, Mellanox ConnectX3, 2x Samsung PM871b 256GB M.2, 4x WD Red 8TB
Former units: TVS-1282, TS-871, TS-469
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Re: Non-compatibility-list-but-working 10gbe SFP+ cards?

Post by Bob Zelin »

Hi Antichrist -
you are in Europe - there is no shortage of QNAP products from www.span.com in the UK.
As for cheap DAC twinax cables, I use 10GTek off www.amazon.com all the time - dirt cheap, and work perfectly fine.
Bob
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Re: Non-compatibility-list-but-working 10gbe SFP+ cards?

Post by a13antichrist »

Bob Zelin wrote: Thu Dec 10, 2020 1:14 am Hi Antichrist -
you are in Europe - there is no shortage of QNAP products from www.span.com in the UK.
As for cheap DAC twinax cables, I use 10GTek off www.amazon.com all the time - dirt cheap, and work perfectly fine.
Bob
No 10Gbe NICs in that shop. But thanks for the link, wasn't aware of these guys.

Is there somewhere I can see which NICs are in fact supported by the kernel/firmware?
TVS-871 @ 58tb formatted R6, Mellanox MCX312b 10Gbe,
R9 5950x || RTX3090 || 64Gb 3600Mhz || Intel X520 10Gbe
MbP M1 Max || 32C GPU || 64Gb || QNAP T310G1S SFP+ 10Gbe
R3 2200G mini HTPC
Mikrotik switches & routers
OpenWRT & DD-WRT wifi
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Re: Non-compatibility-list-but-working 10gbe SFP+ cards?

Post by Bob Zelin »

no 10G NIC's in that shop ?
what do you call this ?
https://www.span.com/product/Qnap-10GbE ... tia-~64089

when you go to YouTube, you can't avoid all the QNAP marketing stuff from Span - it's almost every video that you see about QNAP.
is there somewhere you can see which NICS are supported - yes - every QNAP product has a compatbility page -
it's right on their website -
you have not stated which QNAP you are looking at -
so I will randomly pick one -
this is for the TVS-872XT - all the external cards that are supported -
https://www.qnap.com/en-us/compatibilit ... ategory=11

lots of Intel, Emulex, Mellanox and Marvell cards supported in addition to QNAP. So when you now ask "well, what about this model that is not on that list " -
I HAVE NO IDEA. Do you know how I determine if something is going to work or not, if it's not on the supported list ? I BUY IT AND I TRY IT (or I have clients buy it for their system and try it).
No one is going to create a research paper on every possible product, just so that you can save $20 on your purchase.

Bob Zelin
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Re: Non-compatibility-list-but-working 10gbe SFP+ cards?

Post by Bob Zelin »

well Stupid Me ! - you did say you had a TS-470
here is the compatibility list for the cards that work with the TS-470-
https://www.qnap.com/en-us/compatibilit ... ategory=11

Bob
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Re: Non-compatibility-list-but-working 10gbe SFP+ cards?

Post by hemachayart »

Mellanox MCX312A-XCBT ConnectX-3 EN 10GbE Dual Port SFP+ PCIe3.0 Card CX312A, might work, worked on ts-x73.
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Re: Non-compatibility-list-but-working 10gbe SFP+ cards?

Post by a13antichrist »

Right. So no community-lead 'this has worked on my machine after no/this small mod' type of wiki?
TVS-871 @ 58tb formatted R6, Mellanox MCX312b 10Gbe,
R9 5950x || RTX3090 || 64Gb 3600Mhz || Intel X520 10Gbe
MbP M1 Max || 32C GPU || 64Gb || QNAP T310G1S SFP+ 10Gbe
R3 2200G mini HTPC
Mikrotik switches & routers
OpenWRT & DD-WRT wifi
Bob Zelin
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Joined: Mon Nov 21, 2016 12:55 am
Location: Orlando, FL.
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Re: Non-compatibility-list-but-working 10gbe SFP+ cards?

Post by Bob Zelin »

December 7th, 2020 was the original post. You don't have $100 for a QXG-10G1T after all this time ? How much did you spend in the pub in the last 2 weeks ?
Bob
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