Working on an OPNsense build that is 10+Gb/s capable, need a SFP28 NIC

[sparton175]

I purchased a barebones 1U Intel R1208WFTYS server, grabbed an Intel Gold 6134 CPU, 8x8GB 2660 DDR4 RDIMMs, and I'm planning on grabbing 2x M.2 NVME 256 or 512GB SSDs for redundant storage. The motherboard  has 2x 10Gb RJ45 Intel ports built in. I'm hoping to find a good SFP28 2 port NIC that I can use for my WAN and LAN connections. I've seen the Intel 710-DA2 card and a few others out there for fairly reasonable prices. I'd like the best bang for the buck NIC that I can find, not trying to spend as much on the NIC as I already have on the whole server.

[Greg_E]

You only need SFP+ for 10gbps, SFP28 will do 25-40 gbps.

The X540 cards will work, just a lot older technology, the X710 is current. I recently installed a 10Gtek X540 card that has been working fine for the last 6 months, I think it was $80 new for a single port card. You'll need a module for that too, I have used FS.com and 10Gtek modules in stuff that doesn't mind (warranty) third party modules. So far no complaints with the "cheaper" modules. I've also bought used "Cisco" branded fiber modules on ebay for like $8 each that seem to work fine in my lab with mostly older X540 cards and my Mikrotik CRS309-xx-xx switch.

Consider also that you might be able to use a DAC cable for the SFP slots.

You've got a lot of server there for OPNsense, IDS/IPS and Zenarmor shouldn't be a problem but might not get all the way to 10gbps (Zenarmor is still single thread). Just wanted to let you know in case you see a slowdown with both of those services running.