Upgrading network infrastructure to 10gigE

Storage & Archiving

Upgrading network infrastructure to 10gigE

Posted by Chris Smith on January 7, 2014 at 10:22 pm

Hi Everyone,

I am working at a post house and have been asked to investigate a step up of network infrastructure to 10gigE for all edit clients.

The setup will ideally look as so:

Fast storage connected via SAS/Thunderbolt enclosure to:
MAC Mini with Thunderbolt to 10gigE Box

All spec’d out Imac clients running 10gigE to thunderbolt adaptors

10gigE switch in the middle

Discussion points are:
– What is the best 10gigE protocol to use? (SFP+ with fiber/cat 6/7)
– Any recommendations for a 10gigE switch that people have had experience with? Would something in this range work (https://www.netgear.com/business/products/switches/smart/stackable-smart-switch-10g-uplinks.aspx#tab-models)?
– Any recommendations on NIC’s or each edit client?

– And above all, just wanted to see if a setup like this would work in a similar fashion the current gigabit ethernet setup which is pretty much the same but with gigE instead of 10gigE

Try to incrementally build up this setup. Ie. Upgrade cabling and 10gigE infrastructure, then upgrade storage to thunderbolt direct connect or fibre connect in near future

Thanks, 10gigE is a bit of a new world for me, so just want to try and get some background

Thanks
Chris

+61438841399
sm*******@***il.com

Alex Gerulaitis replied 12 years, 4 months ago 2 Members · 5 Replies
5 Replies

Alex Gerulaitis
January 8, 2014 at 1:45 am

10GbE for TB-equipped Macs: Small-Tree ThunderNET TN10-1P — 1 Port 10GbE Cat6 to Thunderbolt, $945

Switch:
– Netgear ProSafe M7100-24X 24-port 10GbE Switch, P/N: XSM7224-100NES (SRP $7,990, street around $5.5K)
– GS752TXS (or GS728TXS) – if you need stacking, scalability, more than 24 10GbE ports, a single management point, etc. Otherwise – either the M7100 above, or:
– NerGear XS708E 8-port 10GbE switch, around $1K

Cat6 is fine for wiring unless there’re unusual length / configuration requirements.

Am I hearing you right that your server is a Mac Mini with TB-to-SAS storage?

— Alex Gerulaitis | Systems Engineer | DV411 – Los Angeles, CA
Chris Smith
January 12, 2014 at 9:54 pm

HI Alex,
That is correct. In the future that storage is to be upgraded to a straight NAS such as a Small Tree Box and be connected directly via gigE

The current setup is a Mac pro connected to storage via SAS, next step would be to swap out Mac Pro for maxed out mac mini, then finally to upgrade to managed storage such as the Small Tree

How does this sound to you?

Does the cabling need to be Cat6a or will cat6 suffice?

Thanks
Chris
Alex Gerulaitis
January 12, 2014 at 10:27 pm

[Chris Smith] “Does the cabling need to be Cat6a or will cat6 suffice?”

6a is always better. 6 will suffice with quality cables and if you’re within its length limitations.
Chris Smith
January 13, 2014 at 7:35 am

One more question:
An interim step is needed to connect the storage (via the current Mac Pro) via 10gigE (Currently 1gigE) to a combo switch (10gig/gigE) and serving out gigE to client machines as is the case.

Any recommendations on a 10gigE PCI card for a Mac pro and a combo switch that will work for speed of video editing over 1gig

Thanks
Chris
Alex Gerulaitis
January 13, 2014 at 6:27 pm

[Chris Smith] “Any recommendations on a 10gigE PCI card for a Mac pro and a combo switch that will work for speed of video editing over 1gig”

Any of the switches mentioned above will work for mixed 1/10GbE environments.

Video editing: what are the speed requirements? (E.g.: four edit stations each working with a maximum of four ProRes HQ 422 220Mbs streams simultaneously would mean approx. 80MB/s per node and 320MB/s minimum aggregate speed requirements.)

10GbE card for the Mac Pro: PETG1-CAT6A or PETG2-CAT6A cards from Small-Tree. Let me know if you’d like a quote.

— Alex Gerulaitis | Systems Engineer | DV411 – Los Angeles, CA

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