Dual Gbit solution?

P

paradoxblue

Gawd
Joined
Jan 4, 2006
Messages
591
I have a network of 4 pc's and a server pc right now.

I transfer very large files between them and stream etc. 10-30GB a file

I have been trying to find a way to speed this up (100mbit atm)

I heard mention of a way to run dual gbit throughout my network. how hard is this to do? is it really worth it? and what sort of router is needed for this?

I have tried google but pretty hit or miss on info.


Shawn
 
Why not buy a dual GBE capable hub, and put it between the router and your PCs?
 
I think what you are talking about is NIC teaming. It allows you to "bond" two different NICs together for either fail-over or increasing bandwidth. You will need a server-grade NIC that supports teaming on your server and a switch that also supports "Link Aggregation". I know of no consumer or SMB grade router that supports NIC teaming or LAC. Your best bet would be to get decent Intel dual-NIC card that supports teaming and a managed switch that supports teaming.
 
Also might have to throw this in there.

The chances of saturating a gbit line are usually pretty slim. The chances of your disk speed being able to keep up with a teamed NIC. . . even more slim.

Just my $0.02
 
well really the only place I am concerned about dual is my server

as is i media server, It streams hd 1080p movies sometimes to 2-3 pc's at a time.

and at the same time I could be sending a movie to the server from my main rig.

Maybe I am over compensating. could I saturate a single gbit line out of my server box doing that?
 
Captain Colonoscopy said:
I think what you are talking about is NIC teaming. It allows you to "bond" two different NICs together for either fail-over or increasing bandwidth. You will need a server-grade NIC that supports teaming on your server and a switch that also supports "Link Aggregation". I know of no consumer or SMB grade router that supports NIC teaming or LAC. Your best bet would be to get decent Intel dual-NIC card that supports teaming and a managed switch that supports teaming.
Click to expand...

I know that the new Intel Gigabit CT cards support NIC teaming in the drivers if you install more than one (though I haven't tried it out yet). Also, the Netgear GS108T "smart" switch supposedly supports link aggregation and is fairly cheap.

Not sure how well this'll work though or if it's even worth it.

My advice is to upgrade to Intel PCI-E NIC cards (like the aforementioned CT). I'm assuming that you're using onboard NICs, which are most likely cheap Realteks. If that's the case, then just upgrading your NICs to Intel should significantly improve your throughput.
 
It sounds like your LAN is only 100 meg at the moment.

Go buy an inexpensive GigE switch that supports jumbo frames, and get some GigE nics for the PC's that need them.

Simple way to speed things up that won't cost a whole lot.
 
I agree with the above poster. All you need is an inexpensive 8 port gigabit switch
Dual GBE and teaming requires an expensive ($$$) 2 or 4 port NIC or 2 single port nics (Still $$$), and pretty much only INTEL does teaming anyway.

I still recommend geting intel NICS all the way around for GBE, intel just makes awesome networking stuff.

grab these for the desktops:

(PCI)http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833106121
(PCI-E)http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833106005

and since newegg is out of stock of anything ATM for servers, you look else for a server NIC or use those in the server (but throughput wont be quite as good)

Further question: Is this server an actual server with a server MB, etc. ? or just a desktop pc you are using as a server? if its just a desktop as well, just use the desktop nics.

for a switch

HP: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833316076
Linksys: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833124020
netgear: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833122141

I have the 5 port variants of the netgear and the linksys and both are solid products IMHO.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top