2 Network cards=faster access?

[greif1]

If I use 2 100mb nics (or a dual nic) will my users be able to have more bandwidth to access files faster? Any downside or things to look out for?
Thanks,
gr

 

[TheLad]

It would depend on how you configure the two NICs. If you configure your NICs in a Fast Etherchannel (FEC) configuration, then in theory your servers bandwidth is doubled. Also, changing from 1/2 Duplex to Full Duplex (if you are not already) helps.

Are you suffering performance issues at the moment? Are your users on 100Mb connections as well as your server?

(Remember if you are going to use a FEC or similar configuration, your network switches will have to be configured accordingly as well as your server - FEC allows the two cards to act as one meaning you only need one IP Address for the server)

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[tf1]

As TheLad is hinting, you need to find out where the bottleneck is occuring. If everyone is connected back to a powerful switch and the switch has good connections to the server, then dual nics will help. But if it is a good switch, it should have a gigabit port available to connect to the server: so adding a Gigabit network card would make a big difference.

However, if you have hubs or a poorly designed network, the benefits of improving the server I/O is doubtful.

There isn't a simple answer to your question.


Regards: tf1