NIC and Vlans 1

[sraveendran]

Hi,

I am planing a major upgrade to the newtork over the next few weeks, new sever swtiches gig backbone with the workstations and server all running at 1Gig. However I know its not i deal to have the server connecting to the network at the same speed as the PCs. Do I create a vlan with a copule of NICs to have 3-4 gigs at the server? not too sure about the best step forward would appreciate any advice

Thanks

 

[AndrewTait]

You do not want to create a vlan, as a vlan will separate your server from the rest of your machines. A VLAN is a virtual local area network, and so will have a different ip address range, gateway and possibly subnet.

What you want to do is create a NIC team on your server, in order to have two cards acting as a single connection.

Exactly how you do this will be dependant on the hardware you are using. Remember, you will need 2 or more network cards which are able to support teaming. It is also wise to bear in mind that having two cards of different speeds will not necessarily work. Normally there will be some utility with the network cards in order to do this.

You may also need to set your switches so they know that the two ports which are in use for the teaming are linked together. Again, the method of doing this is dependant on the hardware you are using. Also note that not all switches will support this mode of operation.


=======================================
You may think if it isn't broke, don't fix it. Engineers think that if it isn't broke, it doesn't have enough features yet!
======================================

 

[sraveendran]

Thanks Andrew,

The server comes with a Intel Dual channel GIG NIC, Do I have to team the NICs for all the servers or just the Forest Root? Could the switches connected via stack cabling improve the load balancing as well as the Teamed cards? what should I set the ports on the switches to or will they auto-sense (cisco 3750g)

Much appreciated.

Sam

 

[AndrewTait]

Hi Sam,

to answer your questions:

Do I have to team the NICs for all the servers or just the Forest Root?

You just team the NIC's for the servers which you see as needing it. That could be your exchange server, or your file server, or if your AD is particularly big, then your forest root.

Could the switches connected via stack cabling improve the load balancing as well as the Teamed cards?

Yes, but you need to use spanning tree on them, so that they know that effectively there are going to be duplicate network addresses. Using spanning tree, you can say that port x on switch x is part of a group with switch y port y.

what should I set the ports on the switches to or will they auto-sense?

In theory, they should auto sense, as at a physical level, they are still connecting at a maximum of a Gig. However, I have experienced problems with Cisco switches not negotiating properly in the past. As a result, I always hard set the switch ports that servers are connected to.

Also, just for your own knowledge, none of this is unique to Dell, it can be used on most leading brands of server, and even on workstations. It is a function of the network card and software, together with the hardware switches, which allow this.

=======================================
You may think if it isn't broke, don't fix it. Engineers think that if it isn't broke, it doesn't have enough features yet!
======================================

 

[sraveendran]

Andrew,

Thanks for your help, was really stuck with this one.

cheers

sam.

 

[AndrewTait]

No problem, it's what we are all here for!

=======================================
You may think if it isn't broke, don't fix it. Engineers think that if it isn't broke, it doesn't have enough features yet!
======================================