SFP+ question

[BSDMan]

I'm about to purchase the following 10Gb switch:

XS708T | Product | Support | NETGEAR

It has 8 10Gb RJ45 (copper) ports and two SFP+ ports. My knowledge of SFP+ ports is minimal so I have some questions about this switch.

Two of my servers have two 10Gb RJ45 Ethernet ports each on them so I'll be using four of the 10Gb RJ45 ports on the switch with these two servers.

My third server only has two 1Gb RJ45 Ethernet ports so I'd like to purchase a dual port 10Gb network card. After having a look online (Google/Ebay/etc) I am a bit confused as to what I should be purchasing:

1) Can anyone suggest an Intel dual port RJ45 10Gb NIC? I'll be using it with Windows Server 2012R2 and possibly ESXi6. I am battling to find such a network card.

2) There seems to be loads of SFP+ 10Gb Intel NICs for sale on eBay such as:

Intel X520-DA2 Dual Port 10GBe Ethernet CNA 10GB SFP+ F3VKG 2x Cisco SFP+ Copper

Can I use the above NIC in my server and then connect it to the SFP+ ports on the switch and get 10Gb?

I guess I am confused between copper RJ45 connectors and the SFP+ type and what cable I need to connect my server to the Netgear switch at 10Gb.

Appreciate any feedback. I'd prefer to stick to Intel NICs. Thanks!

 

[Eickst]

SFP+ ports require SFP adapters to go in to them. If you have spare copper 10gb ports on the switch you can just get a BASE-T intel nic, in this case X520-T2 or X540-T2

They cost considerably more than the SFP+ cards, but you won't have to buy 4 sfp+ adapters to get your server on 10gb, so it's kind of a wash (i prefer fiber myself for work purposes but home lab who cares)

 

[diizzy]

No idea what OS you're going to run but at least on FreeBSD Chelsio is preferred over Intel especially if you're looking for performance.

 

[goodcooper]

if they're near each other physically, you can always use copper to connect your SFP+ ports...

"direct attach" or "twinax" is what you're looking for...

Amazon.com: StarTech.com 2M SFP+ 10GbE Direct Attach Cable, Cisco Compatible SFP-H10GB-CU2M Cable, 10GBASE-CU SFP+ Copper Twinax Cable, Passive (SFPCMM2M): Computers & Accessories

EDIT: just checked your ebay listing, it even includes direct attach cables...