FC NIC's for Windows 10? / + transceivers that might work? (got some free..)

[MrGuvernment]

Hello All,

Bought a house (yay!) and unfinished basement i will be working on eventually. I thought why not look to do fiber down there at least as that is where my home lab will be, my work station, media system. NAS all that.

I have found several NIC's for cheap but wonder what compatibility is like with Windows 10. Searching around on their models tends to not bring much up so i wanted to ask around to what everyone might be using?

Also, for cable, a client I work at has done plenty of cleaning, so they have a bunch of orange fiber they are tossing, being told a quick way to test it (flashlight) if they are good i may grab those.

They also tossed 2 HP Storagework SANS switches that have 16 HP A7446B StorageWorks 4 Gb Short Wave Single Pack SFP Transceivers. Are these only good for SAN, or could they be used with compatible HP FC NIc's?

 

[MrGuvernment]

Just reading over this as well to get more edumacatededed

 

[IdiotInCharge]

wonder what compatibility is like with Windows 10

Typically, it's pretty good.The newer the card, the better, but used pulls are all pretty cheap on eBay.

Harder part is finding optics that will work in your switch, and ensuring that either you can run FC on Windows, or run Ethernet through the switch.

 

[USMCGrunt]

Depending on what your goals are, some 10Gbe SFP+ NICs and Twinax cables to connect them all may do it. 10Gbe switches are still expensive to come by in any kind of density but theyre out there if your wallet is deep enough.