Repurposing an outdated Xeon workstation into a quiet, high efficiency, high speed (10Gbps) TrueNAS server
Part-05: Selection and implementation of 10 GbE NICs (Network Interface Cards) in client Windows PCs, and silent cool-running 10GbE switching hubs
Hello dear ASR friends and colleagues,
Over the past two or three years—and particularly since the start of 2026—the market has seen a succession of new PCIe-based 10GbE NICs (Network Interface Cards) designed for home and SOHO (Small Office/Home Office) use. These cards are characterized by their reasonable pricing, low power consumption, low heat generation, fan-less operation, and high efficiency.
In tandem with this trend, numerous 10GbE switching hubs targeting the home and SOHO markets have also been released this year; these, too, offer reasonable pricing, low power consumption, and low heat generation, featuring either fan-less designs or "semi-fan-less" operation (where the fan does not spin at all under typical home or office conditions).
To put it perhaps a bit boldly, we are clearly entering a phase where 10GbE LANs are becoming practical for home/SOHO use; this shift is one of the key motivations behind my present "Xeon 10GbE TrueNAS server project."
10GbE NIC Selection for Windows Client PCs
Let me begin this post, then, by focusing on the selection and implementation of the 10GbE NICs in Client Windows 11 PCs.
I believe that Realtek’s development of the RTL8127 NIC processor chip—and the subsequent launch of numerous NICs utilizing it—has been a driving force in this sector. The resulting product development competition and falling prices have created a favorable situation for us, the end consumers.
I have been closely following the market developments surrounding RTL8127‑based NICs. Key factors for me include not only price but also driver maturity on Windows 11, the availability of proper warranties and rapid repair/replacement services from domestic vendors, and the accumulation of real-world usage reports.
Furthermore, while many RTL8127-based NICs recommend installation in a PCIe Gen4 (or later) slot to achieve peak performance (10 Gbps), I am particularly interested in the performance limits achievable when using a PCIe Gen3 slot.
The reason for this is that, for my Xeon 10GbE TrueNAS project, achieving sequential read and write speeds between 650 MB/s and 790 MB/s—as measured by CrystalDiskMark benchmarks—when transferring data from a client PC to the TrueNAS SMB share storage would be more than sufficient.
When setting up 10GbE LANs in home or SOHO environments today, it is extremely rare for 10GbE NICs to act as the throughput bottleneck; as you can easily imagine, the actual bottlenecks typically lie elsewhere—such as in client PC HDD I/O or, in my case, the I/O performance of a TrueNAS ZFS-RAIDZ2 SMB share storage spreading in five HDDs.
While a properly configured M.2 NVMe SSD for ZFS caching can dramatically improve I/O for small-to-medium-sized data files—potentially pushing transfer speeds to the limits of the 10GbE connection—my usage pattern differs. Once I have initially stored large volumes of photos, audio files, and documents (Word, Excel, PowerPoint,
etc.) on the TrueNAS SMB storage, subsequent periodic additions are not massive in scale (though I remain very interested in the technical benefits of M.2 NVMe SSD caching).
Since the primary use after such initial transfer involves transferring and storing large files—such as VHDx virtual disks and/or PST email archives—the benefits of M.2 NVMe caching are not always strictly necessary.
Taking all these factors into account, I decided to purchase two units of the Buffalo LGY-PCEI-MG3—a product from a domestic Japanese vendor—in early July to evaluate them as part of my ongoing Xeon-based 10GbE TrueNAS server project, as shown in
Fig.30 below.
As is widely known, the Realtek RTL8127 NIC chip is characterized by high performance as a 10GbE NIC, combined with low power consumption, minimal heat generation, and silent (fan-less) operation. In my case—prioritizing long-term stable operation—I opted once again to install an AINEX CFZ-4010LB (40x40x10mm) near-silent fan onto the heatsink in a "push" airflow configuration, using Φ3.0x16mm tapping screws, washers, and spring washers.
Windows 11 recognizes this NIC without any issues, even when installed in a PCIe x1 Gen3 slot—a slot type commonly found even on older motherboards—despite the manufacturer's recommendation to use PCIe Gen4 or later slots. Of course, it also functions perfectly in PCIe x4 or x16 slots.
While Buffalo provides a slightly older Windows 11 driver for the LGY-PCIE-MG3, I followed recommendations found online and downloaded the latest Windows 11 driver (ver.1127.30.50.508, 2026/05/08) directly from the Realtek website. As shown in
Fig. 31 below, the device appears correctly in Windows Device Manager, allowing for advanced settings such as Jumbo Packet MTU=9014 and 10GbE Full Duplex.
I was also able to verify these details using PowerShell commands (
Fig.32).
So far, both the driver and the hardware have proven extremely stable, robust, and entirely trouble‑free.
I have already shared details regarding the I/O throughput performance—which exceeded expectations
(660 – 792 MB/s for sequential read/write)—achieved when connecting this "cool-running" 10GbE-NIC-equipped Windows client PC to TrueNAS SMB storage in my previous posts
#1 (Part-01),
#29 (Part-03) and
#38 (Part-04).
Why RTL8127 Is Not Yet Suitable for TrueNAS
By the way, at the initial stage of present “Xeon 10GbE TRueNAS Project”, I seriously considered using the LGY‑PCIE‑MG3 in the P9X79 WS TrueNAS server, but I found the current TrueNAS OS kernel driver library is still not compatible with RTL8127 NIC chip; I mean that the LGY-PCIE-MG3 could not be automatically recognized by TrueNAS OS ver.25.04.0. This is another reason for my selection of Intel X520-DA2 as stable and robust NIC in the TrueNAS server at this timing.
Within the TrueNAS community, many discussions and requests have already argued for early incorporation of proper kernel driver for RTL8127-based NICs in TrueNAS OS; for that, smooth collaboration between TrueNAS free version development team and Realtek technical team will be essential, I believe.
Even at present, there are a few DIY approaches preparing non-official driver for RTL8127 and install it on TrueNAS OS through the so-called “back door” procedures. The driver installed by such path, however, will not be incorporated into TrueNAS OS upon the version-up of the OS.
Consequently, at least for me, I decided not to pursue incorporation of RTL8127-based NICs in TrueNAS server since even the driver will be incorporated in the kernel on coming-soon versions of TrueNAS, the driver would likely require several years to fully mature; for the time being, I will stick to the stable and robust Intel X520-DA2 2-port 10GbE NIC as shared in
my post #36 (Part-04).
Silent 10GbE Switching Hubs (LXW‑10G5 / LXW‑10G8)
Now, let us turn to the silent, all‑RJ45 10GbE switching hubs used in my current “Xeon 10GbE TrueNAS project”, which form the backbone of the new 10GbE LAN configuration.
Reasons for selecting the LXW-10G5 included the fact that Buffalo has thoroughly verified its compatibility and interoperability with the company's own LGY-PCIE-MG3 10GbE NIC, and that detailed specifications—including a guarantee of operation—have been published, as shown in
Fig. 33.
(If you have difficulty in reading the details of the specifications, please simply PM me; I will send you the HiRes image of above Fig.33.)
Although the LXW-10G5 is equipped with a small cooling fan, it spins at full speed for only about 10 seconds upon startup (powering on); thereafter, in typical home or SOHO environments, it does not rotate at all, allowing for completely silent operation. Even under prolonged high-load conditions in my SOHO (where the room temperature is approximately 25°C), the chassis temperature never exceeds 45°C and the fan has never rotated.
A natural question here might be:
“At what temperature does the internal fan actually start spinning?”
I personally do not have the courage to perform such extreme heat‑stress (“torture”) tests myself, but I did find an evaluation report online that includes such “brutal torture”; I hope your web browser translates the article correctly into your language. It will likely give you LOL, just as it did me.
https://internet.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/column/shimizu/2020963.html
I did open the chassis to take a look inside, but with my respects for Buffalo Inc. and due to some possible concerns regarding Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), I hesitate to share "my own" photos of the interior here.
You can find the interior photos, however, on this web article.
https://zigsow.jp/item/373690/review/386008
As you can see in the photos from that article, the LXW-10G5 features three fairly large aluminum heatsinks mounted on the PCB via thermal interface pads. Furthermore, the back of the board is connected to a large,
ca. 4mm-thick aluminum heat spreader—also via a large thermal pad—ensuring an efficient thermal dissipation design that works from both the top and bottom surfaces. Solid contact between the thermal pads, the PCB, and the aluminum heat spreaders is consistently maintained by several spring-pressure mechanisms; these design and heat-spreading performance are impressive for me.
As shared in
my post #36 (Part-04), in July, I had the good fortune of receiving a free three‑week evaluation unit of the Elecom EHB‑SX2B08F — having 8-port 10GbE RJ45 plus 2-port 10GbE SFP+ — designed primarily for enterprises and public facilities, for three weeks. During that period, I tested and evaluated the tandem connection between Buffalo LXW-10G5 and Elecom EHB-SX2B08F using 1m Cat6A cable; as easily anticipated, LXW-10G5 was working perfectly fine in 10GbE operation on such tandem two switching hubs connection.
Buffalo Inc. features 8-port 10GbE version, LXW-10G8, within the same new 10GbE silent switching hub series. The specifications of LXW-10G8 are almost identical to that of LXW-10G5, and hence I do not share the details of LXW-10G8 here in this post; LXW-10G5 is powered by 12 VDC adapter, but LXW-10G8 has internal PS unit which to be connected directly to AC 100V electricity outlet.
Finalized 10GbE LAN Configuration
Based on all the information shared in this post, I have finalized the configuration for the new data-transfer-dedicated 10GbE LAN setup within my ongoing "Xeon 10GbE TrueNAS server project": I will use the Buffalo LXW-10G5 and LXW-10G8 as silent switching hubs, and for all the Windows 11 Pro 25H2 client PCs, I will install the Buffalo LGY-PCIE-MG3 into the PCIe x1 (or x4, x16) Gen3 slot. However, as noted in
my post #36 (Part-04), the X99-E WS workstation PC is the exception; like the Xeon TrueNAS server, it will utilize the Intel X520-DA2 as its 10GbE NIC.
Please stay tuned; my coming
Part-06 post will be the second
intermezzo in the post series focusing very briefly on the thin one-slot-thickness simple VGA card in the Xeon TrueNAS server.
). It’s running Proxmox with Home Assistant and some LXC containers for file and media, and whatever else I might need at some point.
probably around 55W all-in.