Question What must I do to make my LAN a 10GbE?

[BonzaiDuck]

That's it in a nutshell. I assume that I'd need a new router? The workstations would need something better than their 1Gb ethernet hardware? And are we talking about fiber-optic?

I'm just curious, but I'd like to know what I'm lookin' at to be able to do it.

 

[VirtualLarry]

You would need, at a minimum CAT6A cables, 10gbe copper (Rj45) NICs (PCI-E x4 slot or physical x16 slot), 10gbe switch. If you want faster that 1gbe internet, then a new 10gbe router, too.

 

[Tech Junky]

10g nic single or dual port
You could tie machines together and uplink to the router with the 1ge port.

The nic single run about $60 and dual port a bit more. If you want to be able to expand later then go fiber and sfp.

Switch? You don't have many machines at this point so spend in other places. Router is only relevant if you plan to exceed gigabit wan. The oddball out would be the laptop and the cost effective option is a 5ge USB adapter for $60 otherwise you need TB and those will run five times more.

Speaking of 5ge you can get a quad port for $200 to tie things together and uplink on a single card.

 

[mxnerd]

You need a 10Gbe switch, not router. Unless you have WAN side speed that's over gigabit as mentioned above.

And used RJ45 10GBe NICs mentionred by @Tech Junky and @VirtualLarry on eBay.

Cat6a cable is recommended, but according to some posts you can run 10Gbe over cat5e at short distance. YMMV

10Gbe =- 1.25GB/s so it's faster than your SATA SSD (600MB/s) , you will need NVMe disk or two disks RAID 0 SSD to take advantage of it.

https://www.reddit.com/r/HomeNetworking/comments/oc32je

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The only question is whether you really need it?

 

[sdifox]

Get used 16GBPS Fiber Channel switch, NICs and fiber. Done.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

You need a 10Gbe switch, not router. Unless you have WAN side speed that's over gigabit as mentioned above.

And used RJ45 10GBe NICs mentionred by @Tech Junky and @VirtualLarry on eBay.

Cat6a cable is recommended, but according to some posts you can run 10Gbe over cat5e at short distance. YMMV

10Gbe =- 1.25GB/s so it's faster than your SATA SSD (600MB/s) , you will need NVMe disk or two disks RAID 0 SSD to take advantage of it.

https://www.reddit.com/r/HomeNetworking/comments/oc32je

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The only question is whether you really need it?

That's the desired scenario: to get enough network throughput in MB/s or GB/s to make it worthwhile to build a pool or array of NVME drives in a server box of any kind.

For what I actually use my server box for, it doesn't seem that the fuss and expense is really worth it, despite being a minor expense.

And thanks for the links and article references.

Of course, all the PCs to benefit from 10Gbs Ethernet would need to be connected to that same switch. As for expense, the switch would probably cost about $300. But now I at least know the approximate size of cash outlays to get it.

 

[sdifox]

I don't understand why you need high speed network for a one person household...

 

[Tech Junky]

GB/s

Keep in mind this is only 1.25GB/s and only 1/3 of a gen 3 nvme speed.

Also, your media steaming is only 20mbps typically.

The only benefit of going to 10ge is moving large data frequently. Is it worth spending $600 on a switch and nics to save a few seconds of transfer time? The laptop won't be anywhere near the speed you envision without a $300 TB adapter or dock.

Slicing the cost in half or better with 5ge would make more sense fiscally. Not to mention getting an ISP link would add monthly costs of $300+ if you went with fiber like Comcast 2ge pro package. Then again you might have a cheaper option available but a 10ge connection will likely be even more. If you happen to have muni fiber or live in a co-op area then it could drop the price to $150/mo.

 

[aigomorla]

how much money do you want to spend and how many PC's do you want connected?

Want just Peer to Peer? like a NAS -> Server then you can do it with a direct SFP+ connection using refurbished cards on ebay.

There is 3 parts to this:

If you want a more 10gbe network for several PC's, then you need a Switch.
There are cheap switches like this which use SFP+

Amazon.com

Shop around tho... they exploded in price lately...

These guys do get very hot tho, so i recommend putting a fan on top.

Also just to note, this is what i think is a wall to 10gbe speed.
This was done from Ramdrive -> Ramdrive

Only makes sense if you do a lot of backups of large data in the TB count, or your a graphic designer or a content creator and need extremely fast bandwidth to and from your NAS.
Or your just bored and want to complicate things but make things noticeable faster when you move files in your network.

 

[akugami]

At its most basic, 10G networking can be thought of as being very similar, no matter if you use copper wiring, or fiber.

In general, you'll usually be using a network switch with SFP+ cages. The SFP+ cages are the slots that accept various networking modules (cards). You plug your one end of your network cable into an SFP+ module, which plugs into the network switch. The other end of your network cable goes into another SFP+ module, which then plugs into a computer device, such as a computer with an appropriate network card.

Where it gets tricky is the different options. Of note is some vendors may not play nice with equipment from other vendors such as Cisco not playing nice with others.

You have copper cabling, which you'll usually use CAT6A.

There are to major fiber cable standards (single mode, multi-mode). Fiber cables also have many different connector standards. So not only do you have to get the correct SFP+ module for your fiber type, you'll also need to get an SFP+ module with the correct connector type as the fiber cable. Of note is, it's very expensive to terminate your own fiber cables and it is recommended you buy pre-terminated fiber cables.


MikroTik can be a more economically priced solution. Their network routers and switches play nice with most hardware vendor SFP+ modules. I have the MikroTik RB5009 routers, as well as the MikroTik CRS305 that aigomorla linked to. As long as you're ok with running a nearly unmanaged network and not worry about any scripting or VLANs, it's super simple to get a 10G connection up and running between a MikroTik router, MikroTik switch, and a basic computer network card such as the Intel X710-DA2. Nearly plug and play. As time permits (and time is at a premium at the moment), I plan to play around with it and learn more advanced functionality.

One cool feature that was recently implemented on more powerful MikroTik router hardware is the ability to run containers. A simple one that most use it for is to run a Pi-Hole container for adblocking, and some have gotten Home Assitant (home automation) to run on it.

 

[aigomorla]

Well you can also use a Direct Attached Copper Cable for SFP+ and not have to deal with optical transceivers.
Personally i hate fiber, why? because i accidentally broke too many cables by either tugging on them when they were stuck, or rolling over them by accident on my server case wheels.

DAC cables don't require any transceivers as well, and the only limitation though is the length they come in.

 

[akugami]

Forgot about DAC cables, which are mainly short distance cables.

Just as a note, I've seen armored fiber cables for sale in roughly 10-15' lengths. Not sure how good they are, but some people have reported running over one while sitting in a chair and it still worked.

I spent a bunch of hours looking into what I want to use in deploying a home network. I figure if I'm going to be running networking wire to the attic (new house) as well as to the kids rooms, might as well run a fiber line, as well as traditional copper while holes are being put in walls.

 

[Garion]

Unless you need 10G, don't go there - The gear is expensive and most motherboards require new PCI cards, etc. If you do want to go beyond 1G, there is a lesser-known 2.5G Ethernet spec that is more common in consumer gear than 10G. For example, my Asus motherboard supports 2.5G, as does the modem/router provided by Comcast. Using that would let you burst above the 1G mark as needed without the expense of going to full 10G. Take a look at your computer's hardware, the modem you have from your provider (and if they offer a better one for you switch to) and you might be able to move to 2.5G for less than $100.

 

[VirtualLarry]

you might be able to move to 2.5G for less than $100.

Amazon - 6-port ethernet switch, 4x 2.5gbe rj45, 2x 10gbe sfp+ $69.99

6 Port 2.5G Umanaged Ethernet Switch, 4 x 2.5G Base-T Ports, 2 x 10G SFP, Compatible with 100/1000/2500Mbps, Metal Fanless, Desktop/Wall Mount YuanLey 2.5Gbe Network Switch for Wireless AP, NAS, PC...

forums.anandtech.com

 

[Tech Junky]

lesser-known

NBASE-T/802.3bz is what you're referring to which is 2.5/5ge.

2.5 ports are coming down in price but are under $30/port and 5ge might run about $60.

 

[Fallen Kell]

Well... you can do what I did and get a Brocade ICX6610 off ebay ($150-200) and run 40GbE to your server. As long as you co-locate the server and the switch, you can use fairly cheap DACs (~25-35) instead of needing fiber cables and QSFP+ modules (which are still fairly expensive). The network cards I used were only $29.99 when I bought them, but I think they have gone up to around $40-50 (Mellanox ConnectX-3 Pro VPI). I have both my main server connected this way and my pFsense router connected via 40GbE (as a router-on-a-stick, meaning it has just 1 connection and is routing between VLANs).

The ICX6610 will give you 2 usable QSFP+ (40GbE) ports and effectively 16x 10GbE ports (8x SFP+, and 2x (QSFP+ -> 4xSFP+) breakout ports). But be prepared for fan noise, as anything with QSFP+ ports will need some airflow. I have a ~16U rack (I think they call it an 18U, but the top and bottom are not really usable if you want to use the built in wire passthroughs/cable management) which has front and rear doors to help deaden the sound, and it is in the basement anyway, away from where I am usually in the house.

If you don't want/need the 40GbE, I would recommend getting one of the other Brocade models like the ICX6450 (only 4x SFP+ 10GbE ports) or ICX7250 (8x SFP+ 10GbE ports, but is like ~$350). The ICX6610 supports using the fairly cheap Wiitek SFP-10G-T modules ($35-45) which will work fine at 10GbE (struggles with 2.5 and 5, but can be used, just don't expect full performance both directions, more like 2.5 one way and 1 the other or 5 one way and 1.5 the other). Only the real Supermicro AOM-AQS-107-B0C2-CX transcievers that used the Aquos chips work at 2.5 and 5 bidirectional with the Broadcom (or any other switch that doesn't specifically support 2.5 and 5 with their SFP+ ports).

I have 4 systems using CAT6a to those Wiitek transceivers, and I have my wireless AP connected via a 10GbE SFP+ DAC (it is a Netgear R9000 running DD-WRT). My server has no problem running a TrueNAS VM for my storage hosting needs (as well as several other linux VMs).

 

[aigomorla]

I use this guy for the backbone to my 10gbe.

MikroTik CRS309-1G-8S+IN Review Inexpensive 8x 10GbE Switch

In our MikroTik CRS309-1G-8S+IN review, we show what this low-cost, low-power, and silent 8x 10GbE SFP+ switch offers and when it can be used

www.servethehome.com

Its passive.... Yes you heard me... its PASSIVE 10gbe.

I was going to go Kell's route and get refurbished enterprise equipment, but my old servers which were pizza boxes 1U really burnt me out on the noise.

You could literally hear from the guest house where all my server and network eq is setup, to the rear main house door on a hot day.

To be honest, i think you only need a really fast connection from your NAS to whatever.
My advice is just peer 2 peer at first and try it out.
If you need more PC's connected to that NAS on a 10gbe, then you can expand.

But i would probably shoot you if you told me i had to get another screamer, as my servers already make a lot of noise on a hot day, and they are 4U 36bay and 4U 24bay Supermicro cases with 80mm Nidac's.