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Is it not just cheaper/easier to buy a 40GbE NIC for $350-400 at that point? A 40GbE switch is < $250/port. EDIT: I see they are using RJ45-based 10GbE - this

Is it not just cheaper/easier to buy a 40GbE NIC for $350-400 at that point? A 40GbE switch is < $250/port. EDIT: I see they are using RJ45-based 10GbE - this can end up being more expensive and power consuming than SFP+ based stuff (fiber/twinax).

nickpsecurity 11y ago
He did mention redundancy as a benefit.
- brianwawok 11y ago
  But if he needs 20Gb.. he needs 20Gb all the time. You can't just slap two 10Gb cards and call it "20Gb redundant" You either need two 20Gb+ cards, or three 10Gb cards.
  - Sanddancer 11y ago
    Sometimes you just need 20Gb most of the time, yet still have availability. Given other bits and pieces of their architecture, occasionally having a box that's temporarily a bit slower shouldn't be a terribly huge issue. It's a cost/benefit tradeoff.
    - nickpsecurity 11y ago
      Exactly
pixl97 11y ago
>A 40GbE switch is < $250/port. Huh? Show me a 40Gbe switch for that much per port. The cheapest I see is around $500 per port, plus you need the cabling which can be from $200-$300. Though I agree, I'd rather pay more for the more reliable speed.
- jing 11y ago
  DAC is an order of magnitude cheaper than optical and might be fine for their use based on their comments of cat6 v cat6a and "short runs in their lab". Also, if they are using two or three NICs per box, you'd need to factor in the cost of two / three of the X540's vs. a single 40gbe connection and you'd need to double the cost-per-port of the switch vs the 40gbe option.
  - virtuallynathan 11y ago
    Yep, that is also a very good point!
  - kev009 11y ago
    Also intel NICs aren't a very good deal, and the driver quality isn't what it once was in common *nixes. The stateless 2x10g and 2x40g cards from Chelsio are cheaper and all around better IMHO.
- virtuallynathan 11y ago
  Quanta T5032-LY6 + Cumulus Linux = < $250/port, hw only is ~$215/port. 1m QSFP+ twinax is $40. Your all-in port cost for a server is ~$600-650. These guys are paying ~$1800 for 3x10G. 100G switches are now at <$500/port ($470 before discounts). 10G is now around $65/port.

nickpsecurity 11y ago

He did mention redundancy as a benefit.

brianwawok 11y ago
But if he needs 20Gb.. he needs 20Gb all the time. You can't just slap two 10Gb cards and call it "20Gb redundant" You either need two 20Gb+ cards, or three 10Gb cards.
- Sanddancer 11y ago
  Sometimes you just need 20Gb most of the time, yet still have availability. Given other bits and pieces of their architecture, occasionally having a box that's temporarily a bit slower shouldn't be a terribly huge issue. It's a cost/benefit tradeoff.
  - nickpsecurity 11y ago
    Exactly

pixl97 11y ago

>A 40GbE switch is < $250/port. Huh? Show me a 40Gbe switch for that much per port. The cheapest I see is around $500 per port, plus you need the cabling which can be from $200-$300. Though I agree, I'd rather pay more for the more reliable speed.

jing 11y ago
DAC is an order of magnitude cheaper than optical and might be fine for their use based on their comments of cat6 v cat6a and "short runs in their lab". Also, if they are using two or three NICs per box, you'd need to factor in the cost of two / three of the X540's vs. a single 40gbe connection and you'd need to double the cost-per-port of the switch vs the 40gbe option.
- virtuallynathan 11y ago
  Yep, that is also a very good point!
- kev009 11y ago
  Also intel NICs aren't a very good deal, and the driver quality isn't what it once was in common *nixes. The stateless 2x10g and 2x40g cards from Chelsio are cheaper and all around better IMHO.
virtuallynathan 11y ago
Quanta T5032-LY6 + Cumulus Linux = < $250/port, hw only is ~$215/port. 1m QSFP+ twinax is $40. Your all-in port cost for a server is ~$600-650. These guys are paying ~$1800 for 3x10G. 100G switches are now at <$500/port ($470 before discounts). 10G is now around $65/port.