My last post went into detail regarding the hunt for a new NAS for my needs. Synology vs Qnap, 10Gb upgradability, 6 or 8 bay, 1 NIC vs 4. I was confused
Anyways, whichever NAS I do go with, will have 10Gb compatability. I have no immediate want nor use for 10Gb but as the prices come down, I will eventually move to it. Even the connectivity between my 10Gb capable NAS and hopefully my server is good enough for me.
That brings me to the server. As you may have read, I have an HP ML150 G6 with two E5540 CPU’s, 96Gb of memory and a HP P410 RAID card. I was wondering if the HP ever came with 10Gb capability and although I can’t find anything direct, I do see that some HP servers in the G6 line had 10Gb options.
I came across a low cost HP 10Gb card on a Google search that seems to be popular among the homelab community. The HP NC523SFP 10Gb 2-port card. Looking at the list of compatible servers here. HP identifies a few ML G6 servers (330,350,370) along with a bunch of other DL and SL series G6 servers. This 10Gb nic appears to be the same as the Qlogic QLE3242 and a newer model compared to the HP NC522SFP.
The NP NC523SFP is sold at a fairly low price point and if it will perform well, seems to be a great option for homelabbers wanting to play around with 10Gb.
Initially I did come across the HP NC522SFP(Qlogic QLE3142) but from what I’ve read, it appears to run a bit hot and the NC523SFP seems like a newer version of the card, although I can’t state that for certain.
What I am going to try is to plug this card into my server and see if it will automatically detect it. I’m curious is what VMware will see.
When I installed Vmware ESXi 6.5 on the server, I had difficulty using the HP Proliant specific installation. I would get purple error messages. I’m really curious and interested to see what I can push this server with. Like most of this blog, this is all about my learning and understanding. Things may not work out and others will. I don’t mind the outcome and I will do my best to keep you all in the loop.
I should be installing the card this weekend so I’ll try to provide some feedback as soon as I can.
Thanks!
12 thoughts on “HP NC523SFP into ML150 G6, Will it work?”
I just finished installing them into my Gen10 microserver but it is overheating so I am looking for a fan or replacement with Intel card.
AvengerMoJo
You installed the 10GBE nic into a Gen10 microserver? I could imagine that the card does generate a bit of heat. Have you found another solution?
n01k
Hello,
Did you find another solution for your HP Gen10 ,microserver ?
(looking for the same upgrade 🙂 )
Maurice
Hi there,
I didn’t have an HP Gen 10 Microserver. Only an older HP EX490 and the current HP ML150 G6, which I couldn’t figure out how to get the HP NC523SFP NIC working.
n01k
Works or not works ??? 🙂
virusbcn
No, I couldn’t get the 10gb NIC working on the HP ML150 G6. I will follow this up with a post today or tomorrow.
n01k
hello, im trying to get this card to work in my esxi 6.7 servers, did you get it to work ?
Ben
Hello Ben,
I was unable to get it working unfortunately. I haven’t dedicated more time to it.
n01k
I know it is an old post but I have been able to get the NC550 to work in the ML550 *G5*. It is often required to update both card firmware and drivers and cards can be fussy as to which sfp+ they will use. I have actually just ordered a 523sfp to go in my ML110 G6 as that is my Truenas box and the 523 has ok Freebsd support. The ML110 didn’t like the 550sfp at all.
Andrew Noonan
Sorry, that should read ML150 G5.. Mine runs Proxmox really well. BTW, your old ML150 G6 could actually take 384gb max ram…
Andrew Noonan
Hey,
Could you tell me what was the problem with NC523SFP in ML150 G6? I need a 10gbe in my ML150 G6 and was thinking about this card as I can get one for 20 EUR (plus 10EUR per SFP+ transceiver). Could you tell me if it worked eventually or what SFP+ 10gbe card you use or can recommend?
feri
I am surprised you didn’t get this working as I was able to get the same card to play nice with my ML110 G6 running TrueNAS. Believe me – the ML110 G6 was fussy about cards too! But this card was basically plug and play.
Andrew Noonan