Tag: networking

HP / HPE ProCurve 2910al-24G J9145A Switch teardown and shenanigans (WHL #108)

Earlier this year, I got my hands on a bunch of old HP switches, 20+4+x ports in 1U, in basic configuration without like fancy 10G addon cards. These were thrown out when my employer moved, but realistically, they should have been in the trash years ago. PCB date late 2008, component date more like mid-2009, so they were a solid 15 years in 24/7 operation. Good stuff.

So I had a peek. Like I always do :)

Hardware is of course ancient, the main processor is some (dual!) ARM11(56T2S) chip with ARMv6 architecture from like 2002. And while the thing has all the oomph it needs for 24/7 sustained 100% load on all ports with VLAN and filtering and sniffing, it’s doesn’t come lightly from a single ASIC like a modern switch would. […]


Mellanox ConnectX-3 MCX311A-XCAT 10GbE and Solaris 11.3 (WHL #42)

The heat. F*ck me.

I think post #42 deserves something nerdy. More nerdy than usual. Glad to report that I just bought something suitable – two Mellanox SFP+ cards (MCX311A-XCAT), capable of 10GbE over fibre (IEEE 802.3ae) and per DAC cables (not even sure which 802 that is – 802.3ak is Twinax as used in DAC, but thats quad-Twinax as used in CX-4 connectors, like Infiniband does). 55.00€ delivered from the Netherlands, as fast network connections are “Neuland” in Germany and therefore carry a heavy premium. Slap on some 1.5m of compatible FS.com […]