Two nics, one server - unmanaged switch

Hello,

I was curious if there is a way to give my server more throughput. I
currently have all gigabit switches (unmanaged). My server is a 2950 and
we work with a lot of very large files. I have enough memory and
processing power however the network throughput is a little high.
Currently I have one nic connected.

Thanks

 

Hello,

2950? Dell I assume, but the digit alone doesn't tell anything.
Did you install the network drivers, which came with the Dell CD (or have
they been preinstalled)?
In this case you should find the Broadcom utility in Startmenu / All
Programs Programs / Broadcom / Advanced Control Suite 2, which allows you to
configure a team. (You will need 3 IP addresses, one for each physical
interface and the one for the virtual (teamed).
Best greetings from Germany
Olaf

 

GOod info - thanks. I'm looking forward to giving it a try but I need to
install the latest drivers. Right now I'm in the middle of transferring
over a terabyte of data so I don't want to interrupt it.

 

You have to make sure your switch can handle it. Since a switch associates
a MAC Address with a specific single switch port it may lock onto only one
port (and hence only one nic) and you won't gain anything.

--
Phillip Windell
www.wandtv.com

The views expressed, are my own and not those of my employer, or Microsoft,
or anyone else associated with me, including my cats.
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Understanding the ISA 2004 Access Rule Processing
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Troubleshooting Client Authentication on Access Rules in ISA Server 2004
http://download.microsoft.com/download/9/1/8/918ed2d3-71d0-40ed-8e6d-fd6eeb6cfa07/ts_rules.doc

Microsoft Internet Security & Acceleration Server: Partners
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Microsoft ISA Server Partners: Partner Hardware Solutions
http://www.microsoft.com/forefront/edgesecurity/partners/hardwarepartners.mspx

 

You can't do adapter teaming with a unmanaged switch. Switch needs to be
managed and support one of the teaming protocols.

 

As long as both NIC's are plugged into the same unmanaged switch you should
be able to team successfully and get the both NIC's to work as one. The only
thing in using an unmanaged switch id that you will get 2gb throughput on
send but only the primary nic will be able to receive data (1gb)

If you want to get full teaming you'll need a managed switch which supports
803.2ad standard. You can then have multiple stacks of switches and
distribute between switches in the same stack for failover.

Usually the manufacturer will supply some teaming software. I have used
broadcom and intel in the past with no problems

hth

Chris

 

I'm getting lots of good info - THanks everyone - I'm going to give the
built in broadcom nics a try (which have teaming capabilities) and we are
about to try out the new netgear smart switches (semi managed) GS748TS

 

Looking at the spec Boe you should get full teaming capabilities. One thing
to check is that you may need to physically pair the ports on the switches
for the team to work. Some will automatically team if the NIC's are teamed
and spanning tree is enabled.

One thing to note if you are using 2 switches and not using the stacking
modules to stack the units (ie using a cat 5 uplink cable) you will need to
put both nic's in the same switch.