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Paul Haddad :tapbots_logo:

This PCIe card is so quirky. Dual NVMe + 10GbE + dual USB-C all in one. Pretty neat little combo.
sonnettech.com/product/mcfiver

25 comments
UnHooked

@paul that is amazing! I've been hunting for something that would handle nvme but with the extras this offers I think it's a winner for sure

Alexey Skobkin

@paul
What does it use for network?
Marvell AQtion?

Alexey Skobkin

@paul
Looks interesting. But I'm a bit worried how it divides PCI-e lanes between devices.
Because it says that it's 8x. AFAIR one SSD needs at least 4x and 10 Gbit ethernet controller also needs 4x.
Seems like it multiplexes the throughput. And I'm not sure how well it'll perform in cases when both SSD and network are loaded (like copying from the disk to NAS or any other scenario).

nihar

@paul Thoughts on what you'd plug this in to? Directly on to a board or a TB3 expansion box?

Paul Haddad :tapbots_logo:

@nihar either/or, seems pretty usable for a number of diff things.

Tim Van Dijck

@paul I was wondering if all those things combined wouldn't saturate bandwidth, then I looked up how much bandwidth modern PCIe has 🤪

Eric Peacock

@paul Supposedly it's popular and sells well. Plus, I've never regretted anything I've bought from Sonnet.

Of course it has some bandwidth trade-offs at 8x, but considering that it eats only one slot but provides so many things I really couldn't complain; I already have full-speed NVME cards eating up slots for the big stuff.

Paul Haddad :tapbots_logo:

@evilpeacock just surprised I never hear of it until very recently.

Eric Peacock

@paul IMO Sonnet is weird about announcing and promoting products; I could swear I'm on their email marketing list, yet I never get anything about new releases.

Instead things suddenly appear on their web site — like the three new PCI cards they just released, one of which is a solid-state RAID wet dream 8x NVME card.

Paul Haddad :tapbots_logo:

@evilpeacock this thing? sonnetstore.com/collections/co

Nice that its low profile but the HighPoint 1204 is a bunch cheaper and same thing (high profile though).

Eric Peacock

@paul Thats the 4x card (I've got one!) — there's now an 8x version.

The only reason I didn't go with the HighPoint is that the drivers seem to cause a lot of grief with OS updates in forums. The Sonnet card is driverless, and fan-less.

Their products aren't the cheapest for sure, but usually there's a good reason.

sonnettech.com/product/m2-8x4-

Kraig

@paul
So, I’ve continued to hunt for external storage solutions.

I’m not thrilled, but there are some options. I hate having things dongled off my Mac, but I guess we have no choice.

The #Trebleet one you linked previously isn’t bad. But I would prefer bus power.

I’m leaning towards a couple of TB 3 enclosures: trebleet.com/product-page/treb

But I think this TB 4 from #Satechi would be even better:
satechi.net/products/usb4-nvme

Aside: why are 8tb #nvme so much more expensive than 4tb? It’s nuts!?

@paul
So, I’ve continued to hunt for external storage solutions.

I’m not thrilled, but there are some options. I hate having things dongled off my Mac, but I guess we have no choice.

The #Trebleet one you linked previously isn’t bad. But I would prefer bus power.

I’m leaning towards a couple of TB 3 enclosures: trebleet.com/product-page/treb

Kraig

@paul
Any thoughts on #thunderbolt 4 vs 3?

I *think* 4 can get more of the full throughput utilized by the i-o channel, whereas I believe 3 maxes out around 2800 MBps, reserving the rest for video? Or something?

The more I search, the more confused I get. Which is highly related to how inconsistently different manufacturers handle the throughput for various devices…

Kraig

@apicultor @paul
So why is TB 4 so hard to find and expensive? It’s the only standard that has reliable specs…

That post was informative, but not particularly recent…

Haelwenn /элвэн/ :triskell:
@paul I wonder how that works because I don't think that should normally fit inside a PCIe x8 slot.
sashk 🇺🇦

@paul Just add a raid controller there, and I’ll be happy :)

Apicultor 🐝

@paul Their Echo 11 Thunderbolt 4 Dock is great. I suspect this will be as well, and for the price it's good value.

Раджа

@paul Мультикарта современная, только не ISA, а PCI-E.

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