Is it possible to install 10GB NIC here?

[mr.john 0]

Re: Watchguard XTM 5 Series

Is it possible to install 10GB NIC here?

[rcoleman-netgate]

@mr-john-0 That card looks to me like a crypto card.

Can you install a 10G card? Probably.

Will it work at line speed? I'm feeling the answer is likely not.

But maybe @stephenw10 knows.

[chpalmer]

If you can find a male to male adapter.. (I found a ribbon cable on Amazon some time back..) then yes you can add an interface to that header. I cannot answer the line speed question as I used it as my WAN for under 1 gig speeds during testing.

[mr.john 0]

@chpalmer I think you mean this female to female adapter isn’t it?

https://a.aliexpress.com/_mtgR5Ee

[chpalmer]

@mr-john-0 said in Is it possible to install 10GB NIC here?:

@chpalmer I think you mean this female to female adapter isn’t it?

https://a.aliexpress.com/_mtgR5Ee

LOL... yep.

[rcoleman-netgate]

@chpalmer There should be one already on the crypto card.

[chpalmer]

@rcoleman-netgate

Soldered in place. Id love to be able to get mine off in one piece.. just doesn't look possible.

[rcoleman-netgate]

@chpalmer soldered? really? I would expect it to be a light adhesive but ... I can't tell from the image and I don't have one.

[mr.john 0]

@rcoleman-netgate

BTW what is the benefit of having a crypto card? I see in some XTM5 unit they do not have this card install

[stephenw10]

The Cavium Nitrox crypto chip on that card is not supported by FreeBSD so it leaving it there only uses power pointlessly.
And, yes, the 'golden finger' expansion is standard PCIe but the slot is on the expansion card which makes things interesting.

Steve

[Dobby_]

@mr-john-0

BTW what is the benefit of having a crypto card?

In older days I got a soekris vpn1411 card and where
able to speed up the IPSec vpn throughput from ~14 MBit/s
(without the card) to ~42 MBit/s (with the card installed).

As today this speed is funny, but in older days it was nearly
three times the vpn speed growing and verry nice to own.

[mr.john 0]

@dobby_ thank you dobby for sharing your knowledge.

[Dobby_]

@mr-john-0

As today AES-NI and/or Intel Quick Assist will do that job
integrated inside of the CPU, much better.

At the photo shown above, you may try out to unmount
the PCIe adapter from the PCIe card, if this is able to realize!

You may stich in that adapter (if it is one) into a other PCIe card like a NIC to mount it back.

It is not a guarantie but its worth to try it out.