QNAP Launches Five-Speed Dual-Port 10 GbE Network Card

[Uskompuf]

QNAP, today launched the dual-port QXG-10G2TB 10GbE network expansion card that supports up to five speeds (10 GbE/ 5 GbE/ 2.5 GbE/ 1 GbE/ 100 MbE) and PCIe Gen 3.0 x4 (compatible with PCIe Gen 2). Also compatible with Windows / Ubuntu PCs, the QXG-10G2TB is power-efficient and serves as a high-performance entry-level 10 GbE solution.

Powered by a Marvell AQtion 10GbE Multi-Gigabit Controller AQC113C, the QXG-10G2TB is highly power-efficient, requiring half the power consumption of previous models. As a PCIe-based solution, the QXG-10G2TB can be used by PCIe-enabled QNAP NAS with QTS 4.5.2/ QuTS hero h4.5.2 (or later) and also by PC/workstations that use Windows 10 and Ubuntu 18.04 or later. The QXG-10G2TB and other QNAP NICs can be purchased from the QNAP Accessories Store or from our worldwide distributors.



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[newtekie1]

Are they serious with that $360 price tag for an AQtion based card? You can get Intel based dual port 10Gbe cards for cheaper.

 

[TheLostSwede]

Strange, the AQC113 series supports 10Mbps as well, but either QNAP hasn't noticed, or they somehow disabled it.

 

[ncrs]

Are they serious with that $360 price tag for an AQtion based card? You can get Intel based dual port 10Gbe cards for cheaper.

It's probably the "QNAP Certified" tax

 

[newtekie1]

Strange, the AQC113 series supports 10Mbps as well, but either QNAP hasn't noticed, or they somehow disabled it.

Or they figured no one in their right mind would care.

 

[ncrs]

Or they figured no one in their right mind would care.

"What? Synology 10G card has six supported speeds? How can we compete with an inferior product having only five?"
(some QNAP marketing specialist)

 

[xvi]

Are they serious with that $360 price tag for an AQtion based card? You can get Intel based dual port 10Gbe cards for cheaper.

Referring to the X540 cards? Those are PCIe 2.0 and discontinued. It's price competitive with the X550 which more closely matches the specs.

 

[jeremyshaw]

Referring to the X540 cards? Those are PCIe 2.0 and discontinued. It's price competitive with the X550 which more closely matches the specs.

As an addendum, AFAIK, the X550 is a single chip with two 10GbE ports, whereas the AQtion is only single chip with 1 10Gbe port. For 2 10Gbe ports, unless QNAP is supplying a PCIe 3.0 switch, they would be relying on your MB (or their QNAP NASes) supporting PCIe bifurcation (on what is likely to be a non-main slot).

 

[newtekie1]

Referring to the X540 cards? Those are PCIe 2.0 and discontinued. It's price competitive with the X550 which more closely matches the specs.

No, I'm talking about X550 cards. This is not priced competitively with dual-port X550 based cards, X550 cards go for about $50 cheaper these days. And the X550 is a better solution.

As an addendum, AFAIK, the X550 is a single chip with two 10GbE ports, whereas the AQtion is only single chip with 1 10Gbe port. For 2 10Gbe ports, unless QNAP is supplying a PCIe 3.0 switch, they would be relying on your MB (or their QNAP NASes) supporting PCIe bifurcation (on what is likely to be a non-main slot).

Unless QNAP included a PCI-E switch on the PCB.

Edit: Looking at the back of the PCB, it looks like that is what QNAP did. All the PCI-E lanes are going to a single chip, then there are two identical sets of circuits attached to that one chip. Way more circuits than what is needed for just a RJ54 port coming off a ethernet chip. So my best guess is there is a PCI-E switch chip, and then the two AQtion chips are connected to that.