Buyer checklist
A 10 gigabit pcie network adapter brief starts with the slot, the PHY, and the host OS. It does not start with a USB dongle photo. Use this page to close open choices before an alternative is accepted.
Write the PCIe generation and how many lanes the slot exposes. A card that wants more lanes than the slot provides will not become a 10 Gbps link because the title says 10 gigabit. Ask the supplier which generation and lane width the exact model requires, and for the datasheet figure rather than a family banner.
10GBASE-T and an SFP+ cage are different delivered scopes. Copper pulls more power and heat and cares about cable category, often Cat6a for the reach you intend. An SFP+ line needs the optic or DAC called out: wavelength, optical budget, receiver sensitivity, and transmit power when the item is optical. Do not bury the optic inside the NIC price.
Name the OS build and whether the image allows an inbox driver or a vendor package. OEM-coded optics and compatible modules are a separate dispute: one path may match a vendor support policy, the other may widen supply after a host test. Ask which path the quote uses. This desk does not grade that policy.
Match manufacturer and model on the quote to the datasheet file name. Check lane width, PHY, included accessories, and condition (new or refurbished). Refurbished cards need provenance, firmware state, and warranty scope in writing. A lower unit price with a missing optic is not the same offer. Compare after freight, duties, and support lines share one basis.
Switch language does not transfer cleanly. Switching capacity, forwarding rate, and a PoE budget describe switches. A NIC has a port, a bus, and a driver. Rack unit and rack format matter if you are also buying a chassis, not because the card has a height in rack units. Power input for the card is slot power plus any external feed the datasheet lists. Software or license scope is the driver and any management agent, stated as included or excluded.
Heat in a dense server can throttle a 10GBASE-T PHY even when the standard name is correct. Reach depends on the cable or the optic, not on the word gigabit. Insertion loss and return loss belong to the cord or the fiber plant. Frequency range, gain, VSWR, and MIMO describe radios and antennas. Leave them off this checklist unless the same purchase includes those parts as separate lines. Ingress protection is rarely the deciding NIC field inside a chassis. Ask for it when the card will live outside a normal rack.
IEEE 802.3 names, including 10GBASE-T, are question labels. The IEEE 802 overview does not prove your slot, your optic, and this card work together. FCC equipment rules apply to some products and not as a blanket sticker. If a supplier cites an authorization or an NRTL mark, ask for the file on the exact model. LinkScope Sourcing 21 does not issue that file.
Background: a buyer wants eight cards for a lab refresh, destination Virginia, and hopes to avoid optics. Process: the checklist sets PCIe lane width as mandatory, 10GBASE-T as preferred, SFP+ as a deviation that must include the optic price, and driver package as unknown until the OS image is named. Result: factories can answer both paths. The buyer can reject the optic path later without pretending the copper path was already tested in the chassis.
USB and 100 Mbps forms stay on the inquiry list so they are not mixed into this slot brief. Send the closed checklist through the contact form.
Lane width, copper versus cage, cable category or optic type, OS driver, quantity, destination, and timing. An optional budget states currency and whether it covers one card or the whole order. Supplier preference (high-end, mid-range, budget-friendly, undecided) is a buyer stance, not a verified tier.
Current datasheet, mechanical drawing if fit is tight, power and thermal notes, driver list, and any compliance file the supplier claims. Test records should name the method. A link light in a photo is not a record.
Decline it inside this checklist unless the host truly has no slot and the speed target has changed. A USB 20 or 100 Mbps dongle answers a different measured term. Put that request on its own sheet so the prices are not compared as if the bus were the same.
The buyer names a person for drawings, interface, and test method. This desk can show where the replies differ. It does not sign the deviation.
Three chips belong in the note: slot lanes, PHY or cage, and the evidence file you want. The form is the handoff. It does not upload a binary BOM. Paste the lines into the requirement box.
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