GLOTRENDS ST7219 4-Port SFP+ 10Gb Network Card with Intel XL710-BM1 Controller

This was a drop in compatible card in my Linux system, and with the correct SFP+ modules (there's a LOT to learn) I was able to do a software to software 10G link between machines. I also run VMs (Windows and Linux) on my machine, so I can pass the individual ports on to the VM so each connection has it's own link. This makes for a great backbone card for a server that has a number of connections, or virtual machines. I've been able to stream and play games across the 10G network and barely notice I'm not on the same machine. I'm exceptionally happy with how well this card is working for my server, it runs nicely, the heatsync deals with SFP+ cards that put out a lot of heat. It gets amazing speed, and was very easy to install. It seems expensive, but for 4 SFP+ ports that can run at 10G it's really a great deal for being able to massively connect your machine across several networks. Note: If this is where you start, read up on singlemode vs multimode, SFP vs SFP+ as well as what frequencies work with which SFP+ modules. This card preformed amazingly, but my knowledge too a bit to build up to properly understand it all, and this is just my free advice to do your research before you dive in so you know how to properly build out your network backbone.

Works well, Amazing card, little tight fitment 2u

This card is a very good value for a quad 10Gb SFP+ NIC. It uses an Intel chip that is well supported by almost every OS and has stable drivers. The card is packed with features that make it a great choice for servers or routers. I am using this card as an uplink to remote switches over fiber connections at my various buildings on my property. I only need 1Gb connections to some, but others I have more devices at and want the full 10Gb speeds. This card helps me do that and not have to buy an additional switch. Sure, there may be better ways to do it, but this is more fun for me. Installation was easy and the speeds are great. The Intel chip allows me to get full 10Gb speeds on all the ports at the same time and I've tried. it can get hot, so I had to make sure I was keeping it cool with active cooling and a chassis that is designed for keeping devices cool. The card has been very stable for me using fiber SFP+ modules or using a DAC cable for a local connection. I like that it only requires a x8 connection and is low profile, because that allowed me to use a x8x4x4 adapter on my motherboard so I can run dual x4 NVME drives with this card on the same x16 slot and just set up the 8x4x4 bifurcation on my motherboard for that slot. More storage, more 10Gb ports, single slot...Sounds like a win/win/win to me.

Card runs out of the box with ESX9 and Synology DSM. The only thing to look out for, if you intend to use all four ports, is making sure you have enough of PCI lanes available. Most Synology consumer grade boxes are PCIe 3.0 with a physical 8x slot that is electronically limited to 4x speeds (~32Gbps). If you don't need the full bandwidth, then this still works for you! The white card draws about 10w TDP under full load which helps keep it super cool as long as you do not used Ethernet transceivers. Stick to DAC cables and everything will run cool. If you do run transceivers, you can only run 2, every other port, to manage the heat. Installs easy, low profile bracket swaps easy, runs fast, Intel standards, and fair price if you need the ports. I might turn it into an opnSense box at some point.

This network card ended up being pretty good overall and worked well in my setup. The Intel chipset is a solid choice, and installation was straightforward without any major issues. Performance has been stable, and the multiple 10Gb SFP+ ports provide plenty of flexibility for servers, virtualization, or higher-speed networking projects. It handled network traffic reliably and performed as expected. I also appreciate the enterprise features like SR-IOV and PXE boot support, which make it useful for more advanced environments and lab setups. Overall, this is a good 10GbE card that works well and offers a lot of functionality for the price.

Installed the GLOTRENDS ST7219 (Intel XL710-BM1) in my EPYC 7542 Proxmox server and it transformed my 10GbE fiber setup. Four SFP+ ports running at full line rate with Arista MPO/OM3 connections—no packet loss in iPerf3 tests across VMs. Excellent virtualization support (SR-IOV) lets me pass through high-performance networking to multiple guests for storage and AI workloads. Tested with 10GbE file transfers, NFS/iSCSI, and simultaneous VM traffic: sustained ~9.4Gbps per port easily. Low latency and solid driver stability in Linux. Perfect for enterprise-style home labs or data center use. If you’re running Proxmox, Unifi, or heavy storage, this card delivers reliable performance.

The GLOTRENDS ST7219 is a very capable 4-port 10GbE SFP+ network card, especially for homelab, virtualization, storage, routing, and small server builds. This is the kind of card that makes sense in a Proxmox, VMware, Hyper-V, Linux, TrueNAS, pfSense/OPNsense, or general lab server where you want multiple high-speed interfaces without using several PCIe slots. The SFP+ format is a big advantage if you already use DAC cables, fiber, or 10Gb SFP+ switching. Compared with 10GBASE-T RJ45 cards, SFP+ typically runs cooler and can be cleaner to cable in a rack or lab setup. Four ports gives you a lot of flexibility for VLAN separation, storage networks, direct-attached systems, firewall/router projects, or link aggregation. This is still enterprise-style hardware, so it should be treated that way. Make sure your operating system supports the Intel XL710 family properly, use compatible SFP+ modules or DACs, and give the card at least some airflow. It does not need to be babied, but I would not bury it in a zero-airflow desktop case either. Overall, this is a strong 10GbE card for anyone building a serious lab or server setup. It is overkill for a basic desktop, but excellent if you need multiple reliable high-speed ports in one PCIe slot.

Quality: Excellent quality card! All around professional quality, Intel chipset, and the heat sink is great! Installation: Very easy installation. I installed this into a 2U server and with minimal configuration the card is working. Fit: The card fits well in a 2U server or a tower PC. Function: The card works quite well as I have in a server inside a VMware farm. The speed so far is expected and for this price category I'm surprised it works so well. The ports are very close so if your module sticks out even a little bit it will get in the way of the other ports. Just note this... Weight: Card weighs under a pound. Value: Good value! For the working features, quality, and design this card is easy to recommend. Totally worth it!