LR-Link Launches New Mass-Market 10GigE NIC Based on Tehuti Networks’ Tech
by Anton Shilov on August 9, 2018 5:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Networking
- Marvell
- 10G Ethernet
- 10GBase-T
- Tehuti
- 10GbE
- LR-Link
LR-Link, a maker of networking solutions from China, has announced its first 10 GbE NIC, the wordy-named LREC6860BT. The new NIC is the first such retail product we've seen based on a design from Tehuti Networks, an Israel-based developer, bringing some more welcome competition to the 10GigE NIC market. LR-Link will be aiming at the (relative) mass-market for standalone NICs with this card, with the card now selling in Japan as well as online for less than $100.
Under the hood, the LR-Link LREC6860BT NIC is based on Tehuti Networks’ TN4010 MAC, which is further paired with Marvell’s Alaska X 88X3310P 10 GbE transceiver. The card features a PCIe Gen 2 x4 interface as well as an RJ45 connector that supports 100M, 1G, 2.5G, 5G, and 10G speeds using Cat5e/Cat6/Cat6A cabling. The card fully supports contemporary operating systems from Apple, Microsoft, and VMware as well as various Linux distributives. Therefore, the NIC is drop-in compatible with most computers that are in use today.
| LR-Link's 10 GbE NIC | ||
| LREC6860BT | ||
| Silicon | MAC | Tehuti Networks TN4010 |
| Transceiver | Marvell Alaska X 88X3310P | |
| 100BASE-T | Yes | |
| 1000BASE-T | Yes | |
| 2.5GBASE-T | Yes | |
| 5GBASE-T | Yes | |
| 10GBASE-T | Yes (over Cat6A cables) | |
| Ports | 1 | |
| OS Compatibility | Apple | MacOS 10.10.3 or later |
| Microsoft | Windows 7 / 8 / 8.1 / 10 or later Windows Server 2008 R2 / 2012 / 2012 R2 / 2016 R2 or later |
|
| VMware | Vmware ESX / ESXi 5.x / 6.x or later | |
| Linux | Linux Stable Kernel version 2.6.x/3.x or later | |
| Price | $83 - $91 | |
| Release Date | Q3 2018 | |
| Additional Information | Link | |
The LREC6860BT is currently available from at least one retailer in Japan for ¥10,164 ($91) with VAT, which is not very high considering the fact that PC components tend to cost more in Japan than in the rest of the world. Unfortunately products from LR-Link aren't readily available from retailers outside China and Japan, but the company’s devices (including the 10 GbE NIC) can still be purchased from official stores on AliExpress, Ebay, and JD.com.
10 GbE networks are not yet widespread in SOHO environments, primarily because there are not many reasonably-priced 10 GbE switches. Meanwhile, a number of companies have released their relatively affordable 10 GbE NICs based on chips from Aquantia over the past few quarters, anticipating demand for such cards from enthusiasts. Aquantia is not the only provider of solutions for inexpensive 10 GbE cards. Tehuti Networks is considerably less known because it is focused on working with enterprise OEMs rather than with AIBs and retail. Nonetheless, having a second player in the space for cheap 10GigE/NBASE-T silicon is an important part of driving down the cost of the technology –and boosting adoption – even further.
Related Reading:
- AKiTiO’s Thunder3 10G Adapter Now Available: TB3-to-10GbE for Sub-$300
- Aquantia’s Gamer Edition AQtion AQN-107 10 GbE NIC Available
- Aquantia to Sell Its 5G and 10G Network Cards for $59 and $69 on Black Friday
- ASUS Launches XG-C100C 10 GBase-T Adapter: Aquantia AQC107, $99
- GIGABYTE’s GC-AQC107 10G Ethernet PCIe Card Launched and Listed
Source: PC Watch
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colinstu - Thursday, August 9, 2018 - link
If only cheap 5-8 port 10GbE switches existed...Railgun - Thursday, August 9, 2018 - link
They’re coming. Ubiquity should hopefully have a 6-port maybe PoE soon.Railgun - Thursday, August 9, 2018 - link
Ubiquiti that is.Samus - Thursday, August 9, 2018 - link
I use the netgear gs110mx (2 port 10GbE + 8 port 1GbE and can't say enough good things about it, especially after my disasterous experience with the Asus xg-u2008 (wouldn't negotiate at 10GbE with either of my NIC's. Asus's official stance is it is only certified for use with their own xg-c100c (or whatever their NIC is) which is ridiculous because one of my NIC's is an onboard Quanta that uses the SAME X550 chip as the Asus PCIe NIC (I think?)Valantar - Friday, August 10, 2018 - link
$200 for a 2-port switch (the GbE ports barely count, given that you can get 8-port GbE switches for $15) is by no means cheap. I need at least three ports (my NAS, my desktop and my GF's workstation), and given that each of those will need ~$100 NICs, the switch really can't be much more expensive than that, and of course with the requisite number of ports. Of course there is some benefit to having your GbE ports linked directly to your 10GbE ports if multiple simultaneous accesses are required, but my only reason for wanting this is increasing bandwidth for single devices. I'd be happy with 5GbE, really (or 2.5 if it was cheap enough!), but $200 for two ports is out of the question. $100 for five 5GbE ports? Sure, I'd take that.DanNeely - Friday, August 10, 2018 - link
You're not going to see a 4 port switch for $100ish until single port NICs get down around $25 or so; currently 10GBe hardware costs about $80/port. If you need more than 2 ports now netgear's XS505M has 4x 10GbE ethernet (and 1x 10GbE SFP port) for $380, or the MS510TX which has 1x 10GbE ethernet, 1x 10GBe SFP, 2x 5GbE, 2x 2.5GbE, and 4x1GbE ports.azazel1024 - Friday, August 10, 2018 - link
I hadn't seen the MS510TX before. That looks like it could be a somewhat future proof solution for me. I really only need 5GbE between my desktop and my server, but I'd also like at least a couple of 2.5GbE ports for supporting future high speed wireless access points (I assume we will see some 802.11ax WAP/WiRouters with 2.5GbE ports). As it stands, 802.11ac 80Mhz 2:2 I can see 60MiB/sec or a little better between my laptop with an Intel 7265ac in it and my wireless network. With 802.11ax, especially with better client side MU:MIMO I can imagine many scenarios exceeding a single 1GbE link.Looks like some places have it for $270 new. I could probably spring for that and a couple of low cost 10/5/2.5/1 GbE capable cards. Makes my cost under $500 with some future proofing. Just 2 10/5/2.5GbE just isn't enough for my needs. At least a pair at 5GbE and a pair at 2.5GbE should be enough for a few years. And a 10GbE means I could always add on a 2nd, similar, one some day and now I've got 4x5GbE and 4x2.5GbE.
Valantar - Friday, August 10, 2018 - link
Are switches usually built from single-port controllers? What we need are more affordable multi-port controllers. With more ports integrated into a single chip, prices should scale far better than 1:1 per port compared to single-port NICs.Maltz - Thursday, August 9, 2018 - link
Did they actually say something along those lines, or is that speculation? Because I'd be all over that, but I wasn't exactly holding my breath.Valantar - Friday, August 10, 2018 - link
When has anything made by Ubiquiti ever been cheap? Sure, there are pricier options, but cheap? No.