I want to add a 10 GBit network card to my upcoming AM5 system.
For 1 GBit, Intel Controller are what you want (At least that is what the Network stack guy tells me, and I had the least trouble with Intel Controllers in my SysAdmin days).
What about 10 GBit Controllers?
Intel has 3 Controllers which are sold with RJ-45 (=“Ethernet”) ports in the market:
x540 - since 2012
x550 - since 2016
x710 - since 2018
Unfortunately, it seems like the X710 goes EOL or there are supply-chain-issues, since the retail version is in stock only at one retailer for 50% more then the usual price:
And in general, only the 4 port cards are in stock:
Will there be an Intel x800 successor 10 Gbit card (the x710 is 5 years old at this point)?
Are there other 10 Gbit Controllers with a good standing?
SFP+ is mainly linked to 10G, while SFP28 is commonly associated with 25G connections. They use the same form factor, and the pinouts of SFP28 and SFP+ connectors are mating compatible. So SFP28 will work with SFP+ optics but at a reduced speed of 10 Gbit/s. And SFP+ modules will work well with the SFP28 port on a network switch if the port can be set up for 10G transmission, otherwise, the SFP+ modules can not work.
Mellanox Connect-X 4 and 5 here in my Linux and Windows machines, fs.com and Mikrotik 10GBASE-SR and 10GBASE-T SFPs work flawless. Lots of options from single port SFP+ to dual port QSFP28, all have similar features and support Infiniband too.
Typically Intel NICs are supported for at least 10 years. If you get one of the newer “L” x700 series cards then they launched in 2019-2020 so I would expect driver support to at least 2029.
I’ve used X540-T2 for several years. I may have had one fail recently (not had chance to check). The great things about Intel is that many systems have drivers, and often get them before the other chipsets. One thing to note is that the 540 (and I think 550) using PCI 2.1 and so need 8 lames (for the T2). This eats up your PCI lanes - the x710-t2 only need 4. I’m on AM4 so have x8 for the GPU and x8 for the x540-T2, leaving only a x4 for anything else. Of course, if you don’t need all PCI lanes it may not be an issue.
As to the X710, I don’t see supply issues in the US (not looked too hard), but they are expensive (around $370+)
Well, but SFP28 is generally backward compatible to SFP(+), therefore pin-out/physical shape should never been an issue?
From sight reading, it seems the me like this SFP28/SFP(+) modules can have firmware, and if the NIC in question does not like sth (e.g. the vendor string) of said firmware, it might stop communicating with the module, but the NIC could make it work with any module if it wants to do so.
But I have no experience in this, so I dont know.
According to Wikipedia they are mechanically identical. I just verified this at work by sticking an SFP±transceiver into a stacking-port marked SFP28. Since nothing blew up and the switch reported 10G transceiver/down, I am assuming that would work fine.
Like @gysi linked above, they are also electrically compatible.
I have a couple of SFP28 DACs that I use in my SFP+ gear and it runs just fine at 10gb speeds. The SFP28 cables generally support 1/10/25 and since they are pin compatible with SFP+ they work fine in either scenario, as long as the firmware knows to fall back to a 10gb connection when the hardware it is plugged into doesnt report it can do 25gb.