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    SFP network cards?

    Hardware
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    • G
      guillem last edited by

      Hi,

      I'm building a machine to use as a pfSense firewall and I need to connect it to a single mode fiber (LX). As such, i'm looking for some nic's with SFP cages that will allow any optics to be used. Ideally 2 or 4 ports. Turns out, it seems quite difficult to find those, so I was wondering if i can use a SFP+ NIC with SFP optics and if anybody has any experience with NICs that will work on pfsense with SFP optics and 2 ports. Btw, it needs to be pci-e.

      Thanks

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      • NogBadTheBad
        NogBadTheBad last edited by

        AFAIK you can't

        Andy

        1 x Netgate SG-4860 - 3 x Linksys LGS308P - 1 x Aruba InstantOn AP22

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        • V
          VAMike last edited by

          Should work, but you'll have to test the specific combination.

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          • Derelict
            Derelict LAYER 8 Netgate last edited by

            Another (possibly) easier alternative might be just putting it through a switch to go from copper to SFP. Or (gasp) using a media converter.

            Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA
            The pfSense Book is free of charge!
            DO NOT set a source port in a port forward or firewall rule unless you KNOW you need it!
            Do Not Chat For Help! NO_WAN_EGRESS(TM)

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            • GruensFroeschli
              GruensFroeschli last edited by

              I've had very bad experiences with mediaconverters.
              Either they are very expensive (as in a switch would be cheaper) or the cheaper ones produce a lot of packetloss.

              @guillem: What do you mean with "Turns out, it seems quite difficult to find those"?
              A quick google got me lots of results for dual/quad SFP network cards.
              (e.g. https://www.cozlink.com/network-interface-cards-c111-2158/product-70652.html)

              We do what we must, because we can.

              Asking questions the smart way: http://www.catb.org/esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

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              • Derelict
                Derelict LAYER 8 Netgate last edited by

                Yeah, that's sort of what the gasp was for. I would use a switch probably before I used an SFP server card. igb copper ports are tried and true.

                Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA
                The pfSense Book is free of charge!
                DO NOT set a source port in a port forward or firewall rule unless you KNOW you need it!
                Do Not Chat For Help! NO_WAN_EGRESS(TM)

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                • G
                  guillem last edited by

                  @GruensFroeschli what i meant is that compared to the copper choices and even 10GbE there's only a handful of options (also some of them have fixed optics) and if you reduce that to dual-quad cards, even less. On top of that, unfortunately i'm in Europe and the options here are way less, although i've seen that cozlink does deliver to Europe, so thanks for the suggestion.

                  Looks like i've found a decently priced option also for a 4 port i350 based card, which looks really nice.

                  My experience with media converters is also kind of bad, so i'll avoid them if possible.

                  Thanks for your comments guys. If anybody else has experiences with specific cards, let me know.

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                  • C
                    ctirado last edited by

                    Hmm… Maybe I am not understanding the question, but how about something like:

                    https://ark.intel.com/products/39776/Intel-Ethernet-Converged-Network-Adapter-X520-DA2

                    Paired with something like:

                    https://www.fs.com/products/29849.html

                    I think the chipset on this card is supported by pfSense and Intel cards are not picky about the transceiver brand.

                    Edit:

                    Or better yet:

                    https://www.fs.com/products/36432.html

                    Compatible with both 1 Gig and 10 Gig.

                    Carlos

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