100G NIC questions

[Kristof Provost]

On 22 Jan 2021, at 19:46, Robert Healey wrote:
> I'm in the process of building a new file server for work, and part of 
> the spec is 100G connectivity.  A preference is for me to use a 
> Mellanox/NVIDIA NIC since the switch and the 2 clients both have 
> Mellanox/NVIDIA hardware.  How well does the Mellanox gear work, or 
> should be looking at an alternate OEM such as Intel?  Or is 100G too 
> exotic for FreeBSD?
>
I’ll leave comments about Mellanox kit to hps@, given that he actively 
maintains those drivers.
My understanding is that they work.

I know for a fact that Chelsio 100G hardware works, because I’ve got 
two machines with that hardware (T62100-LP-CR). (Mostly for perf 
testing, so I care about netmap support.)
I believe there is support for Intel 100G kit as well, but I’ve not 
explicitly checked.

100G networking kit is not exotic by our standards, and you should have 
several options.

Best regards,
Kristof