defiance Posted January 31, 2008 Report Posted January 31, 2008 We have a new server with 2 1GB network cards and I would like to utilise both of the cards to improve performance, the server will be used to backup up to overnight, and could be transferring over 500GB a night. Any ideas what I would need to, I suppose something like load balancing or teaming, how would I set it up, walkthrough guides etc, would be much appreciated.
DMcCoy Posted January 31, 2008 Report Posted January 31, 2008 1) Are they intel cards? If not don't bother (just my personal opinion ). 2) Do your switches support 802.3ad?
spc-rocket Posted January 31, 2008 Report Posted January 31, 2008 Hi, Yes teaming is the way to go. What make are the NICs? INtel, Broadcom ? If its Intel then its very easy to create a team using their Intel ProSet software (now accessible by using the device manager). I would also download and use the latest drivers for your NICs as well as these will have better support for teaming. There are various options, the easiest is the network load balancing which will work on any switch, the other are where you need to aggregate the two or more ports together on the switch configuration i.e. PAGP, LACP etc. HTH, Ash.
HodgeHi Posted January 31, 2008 Report Posted January 31, 2008 Hi, I too was looking into aggregating 2 ports together. I have 2 ports on my Intel Xserve which i would like to aggregate together to improve throughput. I have tried to but then realised that i needed a compatible switch (showing my dumbness now) and so purchased switch that supported aggregated links. I now need a little help on getting the right configuration for this to work its best. The switch is a Linksys SWR2048. Anyone know this switch at all?? PS sorry for hijacking the thread. Thanks
Geoff Posted January 31, 2008 Report Posted January 31, 2008 1) Are they intel cards? If not don't bother (just my personal opinion ). HP do decent cards too.
spc-rocket Posted January 31, 2008 Report Posted January 31, 2008 @HodgeHi, Check out the following link and download the User Guide (PDF) and check the chapter 4 (Page 16) for configuring your switch to support link aggregation. http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satellite?c=L_Product_C2&childpagename=US%2FLayout&cid=1175235463334&pagename=Linksys%2FCommon%2FVisitorWrapper&lid=6333422279B21 The link is not for the exact model of your switch but it should point you in the right direction in finding the link aggregation section on their web GUI. HTH, Ash. 1
spc-rocket Posted January 31, 2008 Report Posted January 31, 2008 1) Are they intel cards? If not don't bother (just my personal opinion ). 2) Do your switches support 802.3ad? I think the Broadcom NetXtreme cards are okay as well with TOE functionality. Ash.
DMcCoy Posted January 31, 2008 Report Posted January 31, 2008 HP do decent cards too. I think the Broadcom NetXtreme cards are okay as well with TOE functionality. Ash. As long as they have something as nice as the Proset utilities then I'm sure they will be fine
defiance Posted January 31, 2008 Author Report Posted January 31, 2008 Thanks for the replay folks found the teaming options for the Intel cards through device manager, But another little scenario we have another server with 2 intel server adapters and 2 broadcom cards, can these all be teamed togeather, the intel software only seems to be able to team the 2 intel nics.
john Posted January 31, 2008 Report Posted January 31, 2008 AFAIK its only within the same make and often model that can be teamed, so you would have to team the 2 Intels and 2 Broadcoms, then use the Server 2003 Load Balancer to balance the load between the 2 team "network cards" that you will then have!
HodgeHi Posted January 31, 2008 Report Posted January 31, 2008 Do the ports need to be identical? i ask as we have a server that was built with a foxconn motherboard. It is strange in that it has one 10/100/1000mb port and a 10/100. I find this quite weird. Why would you want that configuration? What would be the benefits if you cannot team them up?
Geoff Posted February 1, 2008 Report Posted February 1, 2008 AFAIK its only within the same make and often model that can be teamed, so you would have to team the 2 Intels and 2 Broadcoms, then use the Server 2003 Load Balancer to balance the load between the 2 team "network cards" that you will then have! This is a limitation of Windows. Linux, for example, can team any old bunch of cards together.
zag Posted February 1, 2008 Report Posted February 1, 2008 I don't see what advantage you will get in speed using 2 cards, wont the hard disk interface be the limiting factor?
Geoff Posted February 1, 2008 Report Posted February 1, 2008 It depends what the server is doing. Some tasks are more disk intensive than others. For example, for a database server or a file server, disk speed is very important. Where as for other servers that do not touch their disks often, for example print/domain controller/web server, bonding network cards can help a lot.
SYNACK Posted February 1, 2008 Report Posted February 1, 2008 (edited) As long as they have something as nice as the Proset utilities then I'm sure they will be fine Yeap, hp Network Configuration Utility really easy to use and from what I have seen just as powerful as the Intel alternative. Works with other brands of network cards to so it would be a good choice if you have an hp branded server. Edited February 1, 2008 by SYNACK Added recomendation
bizzel Posted March 7, 2008 Report Posted March 7, 2008 Can anyone help me find a matching network card? Our RM server has an Intel Pro/1000MT and a built-in generic Marvell Yukon chip. I'd like to track down a second Intel card but how close a match would it need to be?
john Posted March 7, 2008 Report Posted March 7, 2008 Same model so another Intel Pro 1000MT card should do th job
pete Posted March 10, 2008 Report Posted March 10, 2008 Do the ports need to be identical? i ask as we have a server that was built with a foxconn motherboard. It is strange in that it has one 10/100/1000mb port and a 10/100. I find this quite weird. Why would you want that configuration? What would be the benefits if you cannot team them up? Is one intended to be a management interface?
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