I have an old VTrak E Class rig that has held the test of time pretty well. I currently have it connected to an Xserve over FibreChannel cables. I am preparing to retire the XServe. I'd like to keep the VTrak where it is but connect it to either my Mac Pro via Thunderbolt 2 or a Mac Mini (Thunderbolt 3). I suspect this would be very trivial using a SanLink2 FC to Thunderbolt if I was willing to string a long Thunderbolt cable. I am not. My experience with the Corning long (10m) Thunderbolt cables are that they are trash. So I am wondering if I can go Thunderbolt to Ethernet to Fibre Channel or some such in order to connect my Mac to the Vtrak. Is this possible? If so, what interim devices do I need?
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Can I get my Vtrak talking to a Thunderbolt Mac over Ethernet?
- Thread starter Jupeman
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I don't remember the specifics of the E class, but do they support 10GbE? Might be cheaper to snag a TB to 10GbE adapter for the Mac, and replace the VTrak fiber interface with 10GbE (if one exists, it should be cheap by now!).
That's what I'd look at first. Anytime you string together adapters, it's asking for trouble.
That's what I'd look at first. Anytime you string together adapters, it's asking for trouble.
I've been turned on that I could simply run longer fiber for the fibre channel and then just use the SANLink2 (or 3) to convert the fibre channel to Thunderbolt. I'm going to run a test on that as I'm not experienced in this area. Long runs of optic cable with some SPF Transceivers are cheaper than the Corning optical Thunderbolt cable which I have found to fail around the 1 year mark.