I'm going to bump this thread, as there's good content and it's all related to setting up a 10gbps network.
Since we last chatted a bunch of new products have come to market that I want folks to be aware of. Apple got into the 10gbps game with the latest 2018 MacMini - hopefully we'll see it in the next revisions of the iMac and MacPro's. There are more TB3 adapters with both
OWC and
QNAP offering up adapters at $200 or less. QNAP actually has 2 options, the standard RJ45 you've loved and the fancy SFP+ connection (more on this below). For desktops, I'm still a huge fan of the eBay Mellanox cards with a SFP+ cable, but the Asus and new
QNAP cards are both $99 or less.
On the NAS front, QNAP is doing a lot with SFP+ enabled units - starting for under $400! The
TS-322x unit holds 3 drives, and 3 M.2 SATA drives and has a 10gb SFP+ port. So you can do RAID5 over 3 disks, with a huge write cache in front of it with the SSD's - so copy your files on and start editing with the speed of the SSD, while it's getting written to the hard drives. 8 bay model with 2x SFP+ ports is under $800.
SFP+ adds a bit of consideration to this whole implementation, but it can make some things easier. SFP+ lets you decide what type of connection you want, be it copper or fiber optics. I know, you see the word fiber and you're thinking huge $$ but that's not the case anymore. To connect from a SFP+ to a SFP+, there are SFP+ DAC cables - pre-made, fancy cables, at specific lengths that most likely cost about the same as a good network cable. Here's a 20'/6m Generic
SFP+ DAC cable for $25. Plug it in and you're done. If you wanted a longer connection, OM3 Multi-mode fiber is really cheap, even when you count in the SFP+ Fiber adapters. To do a connection you'd need 2 of
these Generic SFP+ 10gb adapters ($16 each) and a
OM3 MM LC-LC fiber to connect them. 1m length ($2.80) all the way to 30m ($14) in length, it's an simple to see things at max speed.
Now that you see SFP+ as a viable, cost effective option, lets plug in a bunch of devices. The QNAP switch has 12 ports, 4 SFP+ and 8 SFP+/RJ45's and is less than $500. I've got one and love it, but there are times when you only have a few 10gb devices and a bunch of 1gb devies. Here's the current steal - a 24port 1gb switch with 4 10gb SFP+ ports
for $279!! Yea, plug in a NAS and 3 workstations to 10gbps speed, plus everyone else can access the 10gbps network without the throttle of a single 1gbps port. Even if you only have a NAS plugged in at 10gbps, and all other devices at 1gbps, you're able to have multiple machines connecting and not limited by the link from the switch to the NAS.
What else would you like to know or hear about?