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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Valantar - Friday, August 10, 2018 - link
Cat7? Given that Cat7 is a _higher_ rathing than the stated Cat6A, it shouldn't be a problem, right? Requirements tend to be _minimum_ requirements, after all. It's not like our Cat5-requiring GbE connections suddenly drop to 10Mb/s if we plug in a Cat6 cable ;)ERIFNOMI - Friday, August 10, 2018 - link
Cat7 is not recognized by TIA. As soon as you terminate it for Ethernet, it's 6a at best. Because of this marketing bullshit (like like "6e" which also isn't a real thing but you'll find people trying to sell it), they're skipping 7 and going to 8 for the next version, but you probably won't ever be using that in your house.10GBase-T works fine over Cat6 for shorter distances (55m by spec). You need 6a to get the full 100m. 7 gets you absolutely nothing. 8 is for very high speed, very short runs in data centers.
Beaver M. - Friday, August 10, 2018 - link
Uh, I am running 10 Gbit over Cat7 cables.azazel1024 - Friday, August 10, 2018 - link
To add, Cat5e can do 10GbE up to 45 meters.But Cat6 is not going to handle a noisy EMI environment or bundle cable cross talk very well and Cat5e significantly worse than that.
I've seen 10GbE run over 10-15 meters of cable in computer labs just fine where you do have a lot of cabling going on. Never seen it done over longer distances for anything, but in a home, so long as you didn't run it along power wiring or assemble big bundled runs you'd probably be able to push 10GbE to anywhere in a reasonable sized house over Cat5e without issues.
Now if you are cabling from scratch, I'd at least use Cat6. IMHO, I don't see a huge need to run Cat6a with the greater difficulty in terminating and running it and extra costs. But Cat6 over Cat5e I do see the reasons. Then again, almost every drop in my house is accessible enough to not have to open walls or ceilings to pull a new cable to the location. So if having wired with Cat6 (I have a few Cat5e runs that I installed when I first moved in 5 years ago, but 80% are Cat6) was a mistake later with some future standard, it doesn't take all that much effort to redo things again.
PixyMisa - Friday, August 10, 2018 - link
Cat7 is a weird thing that lives in its own weird land. You want Cat6a.Beaver M. - Friday, August 10, 2018 - link
Everywhere I searched everyone said Cat7 is the way to go if you want to be future proof and that Cat6a isnt shielded well enough, especially when there are several cables side by side.Even the professional I hired. They got installed in the house and they work fine, even over distances >50 meters and sitting right beside 240V power cables.
They are very stiff, so its better to use single sockets, which is more expensive and costs more space on the wall. Thats the only downside I see. Its not much more expensive either.
ionuts - Friday, August 10, 2018 - link
So why would I buy this instead of a TB3 ethernet adapter?Reflex - Friday, August 10, 2018 - link
Is there a 10GbE TB3 ehternet adapter?ionuts - Friday, August 10, 2018 - link
Akitio, Sonnet, etc.CaedenV - Friday, August 10, 2018 - link
I would love to have a SoHo focused switch with some basic capabilities.1 vlan for cameras
1 vlan for WiFi
1 vlan for normal traffic
2 10gig ports (1 for server, 1 for my main computer)
8 1gig ports with PoE for cameras, APs, and normal wired computers
And all that for $250 or less