Solved Network backbone compatibility question
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Hey everyone, we are looking to do an upgrade in the future with some of our systems but have ran into a question that could change how we do this upgrade.
Currently we run with HP DL380p's hooked into a network switch cluster and a storage cage. We use a 10GB backbone with CX-4 to handle the data transfer.
The question we have now is will the HP Gen 9+10 platforms support CX-4, or will we need to upgrade our 10Gb backbone to a newer installation such as fiber optic?
Any thoughts on this are appreciated!
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@james said in Network backbone compatibility question:
The question we have now is will the HP Gen 9+10 platforms support CX-4, or will we need to upgrade our 10Gb backbone to a newer installation such as fiber optic?
That depends on how it is connected. Is it a standard PCI-X card or a proprietary module?
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@jaredbusch said in Network backbone compatibility question:
@james said in Network backbone compatibility question:
The question we have now is will the HP Gen 9+10 platforms support CX-4, or will we need to upgrade our 10Gb backbone to a newer installation such as fiber optic?
That depends on how it is connected. Is it a standard PCI-X card or a proprietary module?
Hey Jared, these are standard PCI-X expansion cards. We are using the
Intel EXPX9502CX4 10 Gigabit Dual Port CX4 Server Adapter. -
@jaredbusch said in Network backbone compatibility question:
standard PCI-X card
You are confusing PCI-X (PCI eXtended) with PCIe (PCI Express).
It was a long time since PCI-X was the standard. PCIe is the standard today.
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@james said in Network backbone compatibility question:
We are using the
Intel EXPX9502CX4 10 Gigabit Dual Port CX4 Server Adapter.Any card would work in a newer server since PCIe is backwards compatible.
The only question when upgrading would be if you have driver support within your new OS and if you have to follow some kind of HCI. And performance of course - since it will stay the same while the newer servers are likely faster.
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@pete-s Gotcha, so while upgrading to fiber instead of staying on CX-4 could be beneficial, if needed the capability of using CX-4 is still available at the max rate speed of the PCI card itself.
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@james said in Network backbone compatibility question:
@pete-s Gotcha, so while upgrading to fiber instead of staying on CX-4 could be beneficial, if needed the capability of using CX-4 is still available at the max rate speed of the PCI card itself.
Yes. The Intel card is PCIe 2.0 card and need a x8 wide slot. So it will work the same in a newer server with PCI 3.0 or 4.0 in a x8 or x16 slot.
x1 to x16 is just how many PCIe lanes you have in the connector.
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Didn't someone say PCI-X before? thought that was a completely different slot?
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@dashrender The PCI-X reference I believe was @JaredBusch asking what kind of connection it was with PCI versus a proprietary HP module. It seems like this card is definitely a PCI-E card.
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@james said in Network backbone compatibility question:
@dashrender The PCI-X reference I believe was @JaredBusch asking what kind of connection it was with PCI versus a proprietary HP module. It seems like this card is definitely a PCI-E card.
Then you should be good to go.
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@jaredbusch said in Network backbone compatibility question:
@james said in Network backbone compatibility question:
@dashrender The PCI-X reference I believe was @JaredBusch asking what kind of connection it was with PCI versus a proprietary HP module. It seems like this card is definitely a PCI-E card.
Then you should be good to go.
Awesome. Thank you everyone for your input.
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@pete-s said in Network backbone compatibility question:
@jaredbusch said in Network backbone compatibility question:
standard PCI-X card
You are confusing PCI-X (PCI eXtended) with PCIe (PCI Express).
It was a long time since PCI-X was the standard. PCIe is the standard today.
I'm not confusing anything. I simply typed PCI-X out of old habit.
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@james said in Network backbone compatibility question:
The question we have now is will the HP Gen 9+10 platforms support CX-4, or will we need to upgrade our 10Gb backbone to a newer installation such as fiber optic?
Don't think of fiber as newer. Fiber is still sub-optimal. You never want fiber until it offers you something you were missing... like distance or RF interference avoidance. Overall, copper is vastly preferred until it runs into a problem that fiber can solve.
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@scottalanmiller said in Network backbone compatibility question:
@james said in Network backbone compatibility question:
The question we have now is will the HP Gen 9+10 platforms support CX-4, or will we need to upgrade our 10Gb backbone to a newer installation such as fiber optic?
Don't think of fiber as newer. Fiber is still sub-optimal. You never want fiber until it offers you something you were missing... like distance or RF interference avoidance. Overall, copper is vastly preferred until it runs into a problem that fiber can solve.
Did some more research after I saw your comment and I would have to agree with you on this now. We will keep this in mind while thinking about our speed problems here. Everything is same rack or adjacent rack so copper should be fine.
I appreciate the input.
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@scottalanmiller said in Network backbone compatibility question:
You never want fiber until it offers you something you were missing...
I love to use fiber for inter-switch connections. Pretty much every switch on the planet has SFP available. Why waste the ports?
I'm still only using them as 1gigabit ports though.
