Cheapest way to get a 10Gb (e?) link between 2 machines.

[Inertia]

I have a gigabit network in my house, and it is more than adequate for most things arouse the house, and on the network.

I have a large file server,where all of our media is stored, and I keep all of my software / files on it etc.
Media is streamed to smart tv's over gigabit ,tablets over wifi, and out over the internet and takes up very little bandwidth.

However my main desktop PC has very little file storage ( 256gb SSD only) and all of my files (media, none media, virtual machines, software, backups, clients data, docs etc) are on this file server, and I access them over the LAN.

I wondered if I could set-up a direct link from my desktop PC to my file server with 10gbe , no switch involved (as they are expensive) just 2 NIC's and a cat6 cable, or something very similar.

I realise the second network would have to use a different subnet and I can use a hosts file entry on the workstation to make it use that subnet for traffic to that server.

Failing this idea I was considering putting a Quad port gigabit NIC in my machine and the server, bond the ports and have 4Gb Ethernet between them ,which would be an improvement and fairly cheap, but messy on cables.

Workstation is a Windows 10 machine, and the server is currently running Windows server 2012 r2 standard.

What would the cheapest option be to do this ? any recommendations on hardware ?

[binaryzero]

....I don't understand why you wouldn't just buy another hard drive, either internal or external. 10GB is an overkill, 1GB would be fine. 

You're trying to re-invent the wheel.

[Mr.XXIV]

....I don't understand why you wouldn't just buy another hard drive, either internal or external. 10GB is an overkill, 1GB would be fine. 

You're trying to re-invent the wheel.

 

Because maybe there will be more devices to access the media at one time? Re-invent?

[binaryzero]

...He wants a direct link between 2 machines with 10, while the rest of the network is GBit... How is that not trying to reinvent the wheel? There's already existing infrastructure to use....

And the price of the 2 10Gbit cards will be more than a SATA disk...

[Seahorsepip Veteran]

1Gbit would be doable with a simple ethernet patch cable but 10Gbit is gonna be an expensive story...

[offroadaaron]

Failing this idea I was considering putting a Quad port gigabit NIC in my machine and the server, bond the ports and have 4Gb Ethernet between them ,which would be an improvement and fairly cheap, but messy on cables.

You wouldn't get 4Gb just like that, and you won't get a transfer speed of 4Gb for 1 stream of data.

Why can't you just run it over 1Gb link I mean that's 100MB/s+ speed there.

[binaryzero]

What I don't understand is how the OP thinks gigabit isn't fast enough for him...Haha

[Danielx64]

Maybe he wants to turn his machine into one of those terminal there all the data is on a server and all the raw processing is done on the local hardware. Like booting into a XPE image but it a full os.

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

Still doesn't need 10Gbps Ethernet.

I saw a 10Gbe NIC on Amazon that was like $400, just buy a new hard drive.

[Danielx64]

Other thing is, the bottleneck will then become the harddrive, unless he get an SSD but you still wouldn't use an entire 10GB line.

[Ilys]

Higher bandwidth is not going to reduce latency. 1Gbps is more than adequate for traditional HDD in terms of transfer speed, which I assume your file server is using, but it will never be the same as having a local drive.

You could, if your server is up to it, use your workstation as a thin client and run all of your software on your server. Your files would then be "local".

[Seahorsepip Veteran]

Maybe an option would be an thunderbolt cable connection but as far as I know this only works between a mac&pc or a mac&mac.

[neo1911]

My big question is, why still no 10 GBe on home routers and computers? What's so expensive about it?

1 GBe is starting to show it's limitations. Max transfer speed is 128 mBps.

A 10 Gbe will definitely give more than that.

[remixedcat]

buncha cheap cards n nic teaming breehhhh!!!!

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

....I don't understand why you wouldn't just buy another hard drive, either internal or external. 10GB is an overkill, 1GB would be fine. 

You're trying to re-invent the wheel.

that'd be ten gigabit, and 1 gigabit. it's not gigabyte.

it's not overkill at all. 10Gbit is amazing.

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

where's this idea of simply getting a new hard drive coming from? that's not even on the table in this thread. He's simply asking how it'd be possible to direct-connect two servers via 10Gbit. Perhaps there's more to the story than just storing and accessing files. What if he's trying to host VMs or do transcoding? Perhaps his file server already has a RAID set. we dont know.

as far as a direct connection, im not sure how this would work. ive never heard of crossover cables capable of 10Gbit.

fwiw, you'd need to buy (2) Intel X520's which would run around $900 USD.

[Inertia]

Gets on my ###### this forum these days, i remember when people used to answer questions and help each other out.
These days no matter what you post about, if it isn't exactly what the replying poster would do in that situation the original question gets ignored and a post about how this is pointless why would you do it etc...

Thanks to those of you offering input which isn't defeatist and pointless though.

My gigabit network max's out at 113 mBps after overheads, which I know my raid array can read and write much faster than.  The single discs can do around 150 mBps. (Que questions about my RAID configuration here from the people just trying to talk me out of it).

Granted 4 Gbe would likely be enough, but seeing as the next logical step is 10 and 4 doesn't exist as a standard, I opted to start looking into 10.
I realise network latency will always be there, but at least I can move data back and forth between my workstation and the server quickly, whilst other devices can still access it over the 1gbe.

The option to move all of the raid array to my workstation has crossed my mind, obviously this would solve the problem too, but there are several factors.
Mainly I don't want my workstation running as a server to all of the other devices while the workstation is being used for other tasks as it will affect its performance, and also because there isn't space for all of those drives and the raid controller in it.

 

I found these  http://www.itinstock.com/intel-10gbps-10ge-copper-low-profile-pci-e-network-dell-w605r-e84436-001-5318-p.asp?gclid=CJfilPqytcgCFQoKwwodTQsMhw
after a little research.  My machines aren't low profile though, so a modified or custom bracket will be needed, unless there are similar full height cards around ?

[Inertia]

 

fwiw, you'd need to buy (2) Intel X520's which would run around $900 USD.

Thanks.

I've seen these cheap but with an SPF connector not Ethernet, I presume I then need a 10GBe SPF module for them ?

 

 

[goatsniffer]

I already do what OP wants to do, but have been satisfied with 1GbE for that as I have a 1TB SSD for installing program data and games too, while all user data is located on one of my server.

Symlink-ing directories is a seamless way of making user data seamlessly reside on the server if you haven't looked into that yet.

A quick google search turns up that crossover should be possible with 10GbE copper, and might even be auto-sensing depending on the card.

What you are trying to do is perfectly in your reach, you just need to look around for two 10GbE cards that fit your budget and are compatible with your server and workstation boards.

[bledd]

Quad adapters isn't the way to go here.

That's only useful when you've got 4x machines connecting at once all maxing out the connection.

10GB Intel cards would do it. Intel x540-t1 or t2 for the 2x port version. (prcies are around £280-£300 for t1 and t2)
Netgear also do 8 port 10GB switches for around £600

 

--

 

Or, you can buy fibre network cards and put a pre made fibre cable between them, this is possible a cheaper option.

 

[+BudMan MVC]

Yeah you can connect 2 10ge cards, as mentioned just need to find 2 in your budget.  They can be had fairly cheap on ebay.  10Ge switches are still pretty high for the home budget..

I would mind playing with 10gb either.. My issue is I have no slots open in my pc   So would have to get new pc which changes the budget of going to 10ge

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

Thanks.

I've seen these cheap but with an SPF connector not Ethernet, I presume I then need a 10GBe SPF module for them ?

 

here at work we use SPF+. i have no experience w/ 10G-BaseT. as bledd mentioned, Intel makes a BaseT card that would probably be the most economical. We use the Intel X520-DA2 cards w/ pre-made SFP twinax cables. the cables are expensive, though.

also, i dont think a quad gigabit card is the way to go. im not so sure aggregating 4 ports would even work.

[sc302 Veteran]

I agree with the quad gigabit card not being the way to go.  In most cases you will not get 4x, the most you will get is 1x...perhaps if you were using iscsi as the protocol you may get a better stream but using it as a nic 1x is about it. 

 

As far as the 10Gb (not B) card goes, go for it.  They make copper 10Gb cards and you can have those speeds over cat 6.  It will not need to be a cross over. 

[bledd]

The fibre option is cheaper, especially second hand cards.

Something like MNPA19-XTR 

then a direct connect sfp+ cable.

 

Sfp means up to 1gb fibre.

Sfp+ means up to 10gb fibre.

[Inertia]

Thanks for all of the very useful input in the later posts.

I have beem researching parts and using the info given above.

So I have option 1 = 2 x http://www.amazon.co.uk/StarTech-Express-Gigabit-Ethernet-Network/dp/B00LPRS36K/ref=sr_1_fkmr2_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1444477325&sr=8-1-fkmr2&keywords=10gb+copper+pcie
plus 1 x http://www.amazon.co.uk/Duronic-CAT6a-Professional-Shielded-Network/dp/B003CL71II/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1444477506&sr=8-1&keywords=cat+6a+5m

= £405~

Option 2 =  1 x .http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cisco-SFP-H10GB-CU5M-SFP-Networking-Cable/dp/B001I185JS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1444477198&sr=8-2&keywords=sfp%2B+10gb
plus 2 x Dell X520's used off ebay at ~£200 each also

=£440 ~

 

Both affordable options, the top option seems more expandable, and slightly cheaper (IE when 10GBe switches are available cheaper then I can make use of them, plus the cat 6e cable can be longer if needed without adding too much cost) However Startech are a budget hardware manufacturer, will they be up to scratch!? the reviews seem mixed!

 

The second option uses reputable network adaptors, and will defiantly give me the bandwidth required.

 

Anyone used Startech hardware before, any thoughts ?

 

Which of the 2 options do you think is best ?