The Supermicro AOC-STG-b2T is a dual 10GbE adapter designed for servers requiring 10Gbase-T connectivity. It features a Broadcom-based solution with two 10Gbase-T network ports that also operate at 1GbE speeds. The card is low profile and utilizes a PCIe Gen3 x8 connector, with a passive heatsink for proper cooling. The Broadcom BCM57416 chip offers advanced features like SR-IOV, VXLAN offloads, NIC partitioning, RoCE, and more.
While the NIC supports 10GbE and 1GbE speeds, it does not offer 2.5GbE or 5GbE capabilities. Despite attempts to connect at these speeds, the NIC performed as expected. The x8 lanes on the PCIe Gen3 card may seem excessive, but future PCIe Gen5 NIC adaptations could utilize a single lane.
Overall, the Supermicro AOC-STG-b2T is a high-end NIC with features not found in older models. It provides a viable alternative to Intel NICs in Supermicro servers and may be particularly useful in edge server deployments. With the rapid advancement of networking technologies, it will be interesting to see how 10Gbase-T NICs like the AOC-STG-b2T continue to evolve in the industry.
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