dgingeri
2[H]4U
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2004
- Messages
- 2,830
OK, so there's this feature in Windows Server 2008 and up that allows a system to be configured so that multiple network connections can be grouped into what is effectively a software switch. An outdated system and some older 10Gb NICs can effectively be turned into a poor man's 10Gb switch. It's great. However, Windows Server costs money, more money than is really useful for a real poor man's 10Gb switch.
I have managed to find some old Intel 10Gb CX4 NICs and short cables for fairly cheap. Cheaper than most 10Gb NICs, anyway. I had been using them as direct connects between some systems for iSCSI and a home version of a SAN, for learning a lot of the datacenter skills I need to advance my career. I recently set up two of these cards in one system along with a couple 1Gb NICs to make a software 10Gb switch to allow two systems to access the one storage server. I have the free version of VMWare's ESXi 5 Hypervisor, so I made a VM dedicated to this software switch while utilizing the remaining resources for other VMs. Right now, I'm running it with a trial version of Windows 2008 r2 server, but that has to be rebuilt every 60 days because the trial period runs out.
I was wondering if there is a way to use Linux, whatever version, to make a software switch like this. Is there a Linux app that can do this?
I have managed to find some old Intel 10Gb CX4 NICs and short cables for fairly cheap. Cheaper than most 10Gb NICs, anyway. I had been using them as direct connects between some systems for iSCSI and a home version of a SAN, for learning a lot of the datacenter skills I need to advance my career. I recently set up two of these cards in one system along with a couple 1Gb NICs to make a software 10Gb switch to allow two systems to access the one storage server. I have the free version of VMWare's ESXi 5 Hypervisor, so I made a VM dedicated to this software switch while utilizing the remaining resources for other VMs. Right now, I'm running it with a trial version of Windows 2008 r2 server, but that has to be rebuilt every 60 days because the trial period runs out.
I was wondering if there is a way to use Linux, whatever version, to make a software switch like this. Is there a Linux app that can do this?