2 port NIC worth it?

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Solution
B
The feature you want is called port aggregation but it has many other names. The standard is 802.3ad.

Still even if you buy equipment that all supports it you get little benefit in a home setting. A single file transfer will only use 1 of the gig connection because of how the traffic is allocated to a path. This means you can not exceed 1g for a single file transfer. Now if you really work at it you could get a second file transfer running in parallel but the path selection algorithm is stupid. It does not even look to see if the link is used so it could attempt to put both on the same link and leave the other unused.

This function was designed for central file servers that had huge number of machines accessing it. The...
Sort by date Sort by votes
1kca

1kca

Honorable
Jun 1, 2014
100
0
10,680
Realistically, it would be to increase bandwidth to the PC as well as transfer speeds between it and the two NAS' on the network

It's more because I have the opportunity to get one significantly cheaper than its usual sale price
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Rhinofart

Rhinofart

Distinguished
Jan 30, 2006
977
0
19,360
Is your switch able to be configured as a bondable configuration? How about your NAS? Does it have multiple uplinks you could bond together as well? From what you're describing, I'd say, spend the money on something else.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
1kca

1kca

Honorable
Jun 1, 2014
100
0
10,680
Is that the same as port trunking? If so, both NAS' support it and are already set up for it. The router also supports it but the switch that the PC is currently hooked up to is just a standard unmanaged switch
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
B

bill001g

Titan
Aug 9, 2012
28,359
2,766
125,640
The feature you want is called port aggregation but it has many other names. The standard is 802.3ad.

Still even if you buy equipment that all supports it you get little benefit in a home setting. A single file transfer will only use 1 of the gig connection because of how the traffic is allocated to a path. This means you can not exceed 1g for a single file transfer. Now if you really work at it you could get a second file transfer running in parallel but the path selection algorithm is stupid. It does not even look to see if the link is used so it could attempt to put both on the same link and leave the other unused.

This function was designed for central file servers that had huge number of machines accessing it. The random nature of the remote machines IP and port numbers would more or less cause a load balanced use of multiple ports. It did not work very well in many cases which is why it is no longer used now that it is easy to get 10g ports.

Now days it is something for NAS manufactures use sell more expensive product to uneducated consumers. It has a extremely limited use in the home small business market where the small nas sales are targeted.

Besides even if did run at 2g you will then just move he bottlenecks to the disk subsystems in the nas or in the PC. 1gbit/sec is actually very fast compared to some single spindle disk drives systems.

.....now as a note on your first question you can use a 2 port nic for many things. It makes i much easier to run VM on the same pc or if you needed a network for say your security cameras that you do not want on your main network.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
1kca

1kca

Honorable
Jun 1, 2014
100
0
10,680
Thanks everyone. Seems like its not really worth it, especially at RRP.
I was offered it at about the price of a pizza so I may still pick it up and mess around with it, but I'll do a bit more research anyway.

Worst case scenario, I sell it on.

Thanks again guys
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom