Server Network Controller in ordinary PC

[Cbladt]

Hello.
Some weeks ago i, one of my friends gave me this Network Controller. It was from a server, and the PCI was a bit longer than the Slot on the motherboard.
He said it would work just fine, so i gave it a try. After that the computer started to have random BlueScreens. I took out the card and cleared CMOS, but the problem persisted.
Is it the Netcard who is the sinner?

Here is a picture of the Card and a alike PCI slot. https://www.dropbox.com/s/j0k1jwk2chks48p/2012-10-20%2011.23.52.jpg

Thanks in Advance

 

[noidea_77]

That's a PCI-X server adapter that was for sure never tested in a PCI slot and with a standard bios. I couldn't even find win7 drivers for it. Not the best choice for a PC.

 

[Cbladt]

Note: I use Windows Server 2008 R2 on that machine

It worked fine, untill it started bluescreen.

 

[molletts]

Hi,

As noidea_77 said, it's a 64-bit PCI-X card and has probably not been tested with regular desktop hardware.

In theory it should work (I've used one in a 32-bit slot before, albeit in a server which didn't have any 64-bit slots free) as long as the extra section of the edge connector doesn't touch anything. In practice, there are many potential problems, especially with regard to chipset compatibility (VIA chipsets are particularly troublesome). It may also draw more power than your motherboard is designed to provide through a regular PCI slot.

For drivers, you should try the Intel Pro/1000 driver pack for Vista x64 or Server 2008 x64 from here:
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Det...ersion=Windows Vista 64*&DownloadType=Drivers

There are few benefits to be had from using such a fancy NIC in a regular PC, though; unless your motherboard is quite old, it almost certainly has a built-in gigabit network interface which, to all intents and purposes, will perform just as well as the server adapter in normal desktop usage.

 

[Cbladt]

So, i don't risk fry anything as long as the remaining part of the PCI-X is not touching anything?
Drivers were not any problem, Windows Update found them.

I need the extra interfaces because i'm setting up a FileServer for a LAN party.

Thanks Everybody.

 

[hairystuff]

I've used similar PCI-X card in P3 upto Core2duo and not had any issues in any of the PC's, even though the slots have been standard PCI. It might be worth running memtest on the system and examining the event logs.

 

[Cbladt]

I really apreciate your help. Thank you all.
I will put the Controller back into my server/computer and see if i can get it too work properly. I'll let you know.

Casper

 

[pauls3743]

I need the extra interfaces because i'm setting up a FileServer for a LAN party.

Err, ah, you're talking about teaming your ethernet ports. To do this you will need a managed switch (at least a smart switch because it needs to be configured as well) and either a large SSD or hard drive array capable of saturating a pair of LAN ports. If it's just a small LAN (<25) and assuming the onboard port is gigabit then I wouldn't worry about extra ports.

 

[Cbladt]

I Think we will about 50 persons. I borrow a SAN with 14 15000Rpm HDD's (Think i'm going for some RAID 50) and a SCSI controller, so HDD speed wouldn't be a problem. I think i'm gonna bridge the two interfaces on the PCI-X Netcard, and use that bridge for FileShare. And the Onboard for Crew fileshare, rdp and stuff like that.

 

[pauls3743]

Of the little I know about SANs they need custom setups and lots of configuration, not the sort of thing you would see, or need, at a small/medium LAN. As for the SAN itself, is that 14 drives and a SCSI controller you're going to have to plug into a host computer or is it a standalone system? I'm not 100% but I think SANs need their own custom hookups to the systems that control their access, this may not be standard ethernet.

One thing I am sure of, the PCI bus on your desktop pc is a major bottleneck between the SAN and the LAN. The 32-bit PCI bus is only capable of 133MB/s shared between all devices connected to it, not just the addon cards. This would restrict your data throughput to less than 60MB/s from the SAN, you'd be doing well to break 50MB/s.

You should really be using that dual port PCI-X ethernet card in a high-end workstation or server board which are capable of speeds up to 1024MB/s data throughput dedicated to the PCI-X slots alone.

The other suggestion, which is a bit cheaper, is to find a PCIe dual/quad port ethernet card on the like of eBay, that's assuming your system supports PCIe.

As to seperating file shares, rdp and other stuff between different ethernet ports on the same computer, good luck, I don't see the need for it so have never tried it.

 

[Cbladt]

Trust me i got this ***. I work as Server Technician. I just couldn't figure out the Netcard thingy.

 

[pauls3743]

Last question. What LAN party?

 

[Cbladt]

It's a little local one. Here in Denmark. Nothing special.