Just bought Netgate XG-7100-1U, hardware question

murk00

I just bought the Netgate XG-7100-1U.
I also bought the MikroTik 12-Port 10G Switch with Dual Power Supply (CRS312-4C+8XG-RM)

So both of these have SFP+ports, but I didnt know it had to be fiber SFP+ not copper.

1.Do you guys have any good recommendations for a SFP+ network card because my card now is just SFP

ALso I just want to make sure I am thinking about this corrently, I buy a SFP+ network card that plugs into the Netgate device via the SFP+ fiber port. Then I use the other SFP+ port out to run into the MikroTik SFP+ port and were all happy and running smooth.

As you can tell I am learning as I go, never dealt with SFP before so any help is much appreicated. At this time I think I need a SFP+ version network card, and mutiple SFP+ fiber cables.

NogBadTheBad

@murk00 What make you think you can’t use copper in a SFP+ port ?

Loads of different options:-

https://store.netgate.com/pfSense/accessories.aspx

https://www.fs.com/uk/products/66612.html

https://www.fs.com/uk/products/30856.html

murk00

@nogbadthebad So I have to buy a network addon card?

becuase this is listed on the product page:

Networking 2x 10GbE Intel x553 SFP+ Ports
8-port 1Gbps Marvell 88E6190 switch, uplinked at 5 Gbps (2x 2.5 Gbps) to Intel SoC for LAN
Virtual Machine Device Queues reduce I/O overhead
Note: Copper SFP/SFP+ not supported.

dotdash

Don't those come standard with an Intel two port SFP+ card? You should just need to get an Intel compatible 10GB SR transceiver, a transceiver for the switch and a fiber patch. You could also use a direct attach cable, which would probably be cheaper. There are some guidelines on compatible modules in the manual.

NogBadTheBad

@murk00 Not sure why it says that, I’ve never used a 7100, but all the network equipment I’ve ever used you can use any type media in a SFP+ port.

Maybe someone from Netgate can comment.

murk00

@nogbadthebad I was watching lawrence systems and he mentioned it in his video, and he thought maybe it was a driver related issue.

dotdash

It's a thing with the chipset or the driver. Those cards are finicky about modules , but you should just be able to use a direct attach from the card an SFP+ on the switch.

murk00

@dotdash Any recommendations for a netword card?

NogBadTheBad

@murk00 Would it not be cheaper to buy a couple of fiber SFP+ modules and a fiber cable rather than buy an extra card.

stephenw10

I can confirm, unfortunately, that you cannot use an SFP/RJ-45 module in the on-board ports on the XG-7100. It's because the NIC cannot communicate with the module to determine the link speed etc due to missing lines on the C3558 SoC.
See: https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/solutions/xg-7100-1u/io-ports.html#sfp-ethernet-ports

I believe we have seen one module that did work, presumably because it's default values allowed it to link, but you should not expect that to work there. Use an expansion card if you need it.

Steve

NogBadTheBad

I'd be using a twin-ax then.

BTW https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/solutions/xg-7100-1u/io-ports.html#sfp-ethernet-ports leads to a 404 with the warning.

There is an Intel-supplied driver issue for the C3000, preventing 1Gbps and 10Gbps copper modules from being recognized on the SFP+ ports. Copper modules are not supported.

stephenw10

Yeah, I was just trying to track down the linked readme... and failing.

stephenw10

Still in the Google cache. I that doc it says:

In addition, SFP+ devices based on the Intel(R) Ethernet Connection X552 and
Intel(R) Ethernet Connection X553 do not support the following features:
* Speed and duplex auto-negotiation.
* Wake on LAN
* 1000BASE-T SFP Modules

The NICs in the C3558 are X553.

Steve