2.5 Nic adapters ?

[Onknight]

I'm looking to add https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B0BG685PKM/ref=ox_sc_act_title_5?smid=AUJBRIGYRJ3Q8&th=1 this card to my XPEonolgy

It's difficult to find a cheap Intel card under $60 Canadian

 

Will this work or what alternative should I make

[IG-88]

thats a normal realtek r8125 based card, should be no problem with rp based loaders for dsm 7.x

intel based 2.5G based cards (driver igc.ko) where a problem in the beginning because it was only supported in kernel 5.x and intel did not deliver a driver for older kernels

there is a backported driver now but as the driver code is continued in kernel 5.x by intel its not guaranteed how much of that ends in the driver you will be using in kernel 4.x based dsm versions (atm only sa6400 is kernel 5.x based, so pretty much every dsm version uses the backported intel igc driver)

 

it also depends how you connect things, if the switch (usually in between components connected to a network) does not support more the 1G you can't use the 2.5G

its also possible to directly connect cards without a switch but these cases usually need some manual network settings to work and are not as universal as using it with a switch

 

alternatives are older 10G cards like mellanox sfp+ cards (cheap as the more expansive 2.5G cards) or cards that support rj45 based speeds like 1G, 2.5G, 5G and  10G, these are way more expansive and usually produce a good amount of heat (thats true for the older 10G cards like the mellanox too)

 

when "investing" in a new switch and cards it might be interesting to look for 10G cards and switches with sfp+, leaves way more headroom for the next years

maybe look for switches from mikrotik or qnap that come with sfp+ (and some are available fan-less)

might cost a 80-130 bugs more over all but will pay off as network cards and switches will often be used over 2 or 3 gens of computer hardware

[Onknight]

I got 1 installed but I am waiting for New Switch and Router to get here 

Updated all Wires to 6a Or Better most of it now is Cat7 and one to main Computer is Cat8

 

The New Switch is a Davuaz 2.5G Unmanaged Ethernet Switch with 4 x 2.5G Base-T Ports and 2 x 10G SFP Uplink

I am also updated to Router to a  TP-Link Tri-Band BE9300 WiFi 7 Router with 4 2.5 Gig Connections (photo Below)

The main desktop already has 2.5 gig Nic on the main board so I am just waiting for Router and switch to test

 

I am doing on Budget of around 400 CND.

I've including a Very basic Wiring diagram for my setup.

 

 

 

 

Edited June 30, 2024 by Onknight

[IG-88]

3 hours ago, Onknight said:

Updated all Wires to 6a Or Better most of it now is Cat7 and one to main Computer is Cat8

not really needed as long as you don't plan to max out to 100m

especially 2.5GBase-T is ok with Cat 5e

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2.5GBASE-T_and_5GBASE-T

but it does not hurt to have new and better cables

 

3 hours ago, Onknight said:

The New Switch is a Davuaz 2.5G Unmanaged Ethernet Switch with 4 x 2.5G Base-T Ports and 2 x 10G SFP Uplink

and that's just 50 bugs and still fan-less , looks like there is some new and useful stuff around (had not looked lately as i already have what i needed)

 

looks like you already have all planed the right way,the two 10G sfp+ ports might be useful later, i guess the jump from 1G to 2.5G might more cost effective then doing all with 10G now, in most home use cases 10G is not really needed and more of a "why not if i can do it"

 

[Onknight]

That was the plan to update the wiring so that it was 10 gig capable.

Then when 10 gig goes when it more main Stream and costs come down I can upgrade seamlessly

For now this will get me a little more speed my main xpenology Pegasus sits in my bedroom closet

it's Dell Power Edge T110  Running  DS3622xs+. DSM 7.1.1-42962 Update 6 

 

I also have a second server in there as well but it's running truenas Core

I would have loved to have ran xpenology but for some reason I couldn't get any of the bootloaders to work

Every time I download it one I'd ask for a list of model numbers and it would fail

So I ended up running to Truenas even though I prefer xpenology

 

I've been planning this move for over a year and saving to do it

Saved up 6 months to come up with the part the money for this

I'll let you know how it went after all you helped me get into the hobby

When I was just learning it's one of the reasons I keep coming back is I enjoy learning new things

 

 

 

Edited June 30, 2024 by Onknight

[Onknight]

The operation was a success Lan 2 is now 2.5 GB

 

[Konfl1kt]

On 7/1/2024 at 5:22 AM, Onknight said:

The operation was a success Lan 2 is now 2.5 GB

Hi,

can you help me please? I have the second 2.5 card installed and can get only 1Gb.

1st: TP-Link 2.5GB PCIe Network Card (TX201) Build: DS3622xs+

Replaced with

2nd: Intel I225 2.5 Gb Card Build: DS3617xs

Desided to make build based on my previous version I had with DSM 6.x.

What should I do to make those works? I still have 2 cards.

My NAS.

Thank you!

[Onknight]

It could be a few things have you checked the cable to make sure it can handle it

What about the switch is this which rated for that speed

It could also be the card just doesn't like the Synology I've seen it be picky with the same chipset on one card and be fine with the same chip on the on another

Good luck

[Konfl1kt]

6 hours ago, Onknight said:

It could be a few things have you checked the cable to make sure it can handle it

What about the switch is this which rated for that speed

It could also be the card just doesn't like the Synology I've seen it be picky with the same chipset on one card and be fine with the same chip on the on another

Good luck

Man... the cable was the issue. Shame...
I recently re-routed my cables—new switch, another QNAP NAS, and a separate media server. All other cables work at 2.5, so I didn’t even think that was the issue.
May I ask you one more unrelated question since you replied so quickly?
Should I build the DS3622xs+ again since it’s newer than the DS3617xs?
And one related: how does this TP-Link card perform? I’m trying to decide which one to keep.
Thanks!

[Onknight]

Glad it worked for you