Are DAC cables standarized across manufacturers just like optical connection standards or RJ45? I mean - is it possible to use MikroTik DAC cable to connect MikroTik device to lets say server with Intel X710 10G network card or other 10G SFP+ devices? Or do I need to get regular SFP+ modules? I’m more interested in specifically server network cards, not necessarily other networking gear.
the cable is with the “sfp” module. so its just a matter if your other wenndor equipment will accept the module. it will act as a standard sfp(+) module - and if other mikroptik is ok - this should also be ok. If you need another codek - you cant use this - and need to use vendor spesific sfp(+)'s
Hi, according to my experience at 10Gbps DAC, some cables are standard by brand, if you want to connect the mikrotik with an Intel PC, it will probably work; if you’re trying to connect different mikrotiks using that DAC the it will definitely work, however if your idea is to connect to a different vendor like Cisco / Juniper then it won’t work, because they add something called CRC which is a kind of coding for that vendor and the other end will not recognize that cable.
Yeah I know other networking gear vendors usually tend to be d*cks and milk for branded parts that’s why I asked more about server cards. All my networking gear is mtk so no surprises to expect here. I was just wondering if I’ll need to get full set of quite pricey SFP+ modules or I could get away with mtk DAC cables for connection between CRS317 and Linux servers with Intel x710 cards.
Though I faced issues with hair pinning (reflective relay) support and I’m not sure if it’s gonna affect SR-IOV functionality badly. I already performed some tests with KVM using VEPA network mode and it’s not really promising. From what I saw SR-IOV implementation on Intel cards works in similar manner.
http://forum.mikrotik.com/t/mikrotik-switch-bridge-hair-pinning-reflective-relay-support/120126/1
Apparently they’re not.
Luckily I had Mikrotik 1m DAC laying around so I tested it before ordering more cables. It doesn’t work. I also tried Mikrotik’s SFP+ FC module and it doesn’t work either. Card shows following error:
I ordered Intel compatible DAC cable. I hope it’s gonna work 
I’m starting to be a bit afraid that this card is from some OEM and accepts eg only HP or Dell parts… I bought it in some standard consumer electronics shop. dmesg shows following message:
[ 6433.461982] i40e 0000:01:00.0 enp1s0f0: the driver failed to link because an unqualified module was detected.
[ 6433.462948] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): enp1s0f0: link is not ready
[ 6433.462952] 8021q: adding VLAN 0 to HW filter on device enp1s0f0
[ 6433.462955] i40e 0000:01:00.0 enp1s0f0: adding 3c:fd:fe:b0:f7:88 vid=0
[ 6436.707593] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): enp1s0f1: link is not ready
[ 6436.707598] 8021q: adding VLAN 0 to HW filter on device enp1s0f1
[ 6436.707602] i40e 0000:01:00.1 enp1s0f1: adding 3c:fd:fe:b0:f7:89 vid=0
[ 6438.038876] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): enp1s0f2: link is not ready
[ 6438.038880] 8021q: adding VLAN 0 to HW filter on device enp1s0f2
[ 6438.038884] i40e 0000:01:00.2 enp1s0f2: adding 3c:fd:fe:b0:f7:8a vid=0
[ 6439.255759] i40e 0000:01:00.3 enp1s0f3: the driver failed to link because an unqualified module was detected.
[ 6439.255825] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): enp1s0f3: link is not ready
[ 6439.255828] 8021q: adding VLAN 0 to HW filter on device enp1s0f3
[ 6439.255832] i40e 0000:01:00.3 enp1s0f3: adding 3c:fd:fe:b0:f7:8b vid=0
I have two Mikrotik DAC cables. One connects a CCR1009 to a D-Link switch and the other an onboard nic of a Supermicro X10SDV-4C-7TP4F Mainboard to the D-Link switch. If I remember correct I was required to set the link speed on the CCR1009 to 10G manualy. Apart from that, I have done nothing beyond connection the cables and it just works.
The SPF+ interfaces of the X10SDV-4C-7TP4F Mainboard exposes the nics that are included in the Xeon D-1518 SoC. Therefor, the Mikrotik DAC cable works at leas with the intel 10G network chip that is part of the Xeon D. However, I have no clue which other chips supermicor uses to power the SFP+ interfaces (amplifier and what ever is additionally required).
I’m planning to do a 10G network with CRS-317 and I need to know what DAC cables are compatible or tested.
Also, on the PCI cards, what is recommended ?
Will a 50$ card from ebay work much slower than a Intel x710 ?
From my experience with Intel 10 GbE drivers, at least some include an option to use unsupported SFP+ modules at your own risk.
That said, I fixed a bug on the ixgbe driver for FreeBSD a couple of years ago and the code was a royal mess.
The README file for the FreeBSD driver states that it supports all passive and active DA cables.
“X710/XL710 Based SFP+ adapters support all passive and active limiting direct
attach cables that comply with SFF-8431 v4.1 and SFF-8472 v10.4 specifications.”
Do you have a way to read the EEPROM from the SFP+ modules?