Nic compatibility?

[Eqc.liu]

Hey all, total notice here building my first Nas. I'm using an old ThinkStation xeon workstation that only has gigabit ethernet and want to add a pcie 2.5 or 10g NIC to Saturday my hdds. 

Do I have to worry abiut compatibility issues or should it be plug and play? Can anyone recommend a decent budget one? Thank you! 

[Dylan]

Hi @Eqc.liu Compatibility shouldn't be an issue with an add-on PCIe NIC. I'll leave it to others for suggestion on which one for budget.

[Mobius]

just make sure it is not realtek since they have a bad reputation with support for certain realtek nics being straight up disabled in truenas for causing issues

[Eqc.liu]

Thanks for the responses! 

[Mobius]

2 hours ago, Eqc.liu said:

Thanks for the responses! 

you are welcome. I just want to clarify that many brands can be powered by realtek and you sometimes need to look deeper into the product listing.
Another user had issues with a 2.5gb ugreen usb to ethernet dongle because it was powered by realtek

[Eqc.liu]

I got an HP 530T for $14 from eBay and it worked completely plug and play.