2 NICS better than 1 ?

goreblast · 2 Apr 2006 at 12:18

Most new motherboards have 2 10/100/1000 NICs on board. Could both be connected to the same switch/network so that network transfer times improved? IE theoretically running at 2000? Assume gigabit switch and adequate cabling.

Sone · 2 Apr 2006 at 13:01

possible using decent kit, but most home user nics and switches won't support it.

(we use it at work with HP DL360 servers and netgear managed siwtches using 802.3ad)

Jokester · 2 Apr 2006 at 13:04

Are there actually any practical uses for 2 on board NICs for a home user?

Jokester

Pain · 2 Apr 2006 at 13:14

For an ordinary home user, 1 is more then enough I'd say, but the 2nd could be used if the 1st becomes faulty, but how often does that happen? Hardly ever I would have thought.

basmic · 2 Apr 2006 at 13:21

I only found having 2 NICs useful when I was sharing my NTL connection without a router.

I reckon if you try and copy a files over each 1000mbs NIC, you'd become bottlenecked by the hard-drives.

Amoeba · 2 Apr 2006 at 14:06

In Linux you can bond two NICs togethor to give combined bandwidth. I know you can get special software for certain makes of cards in Windows but I'm unsure if it will work with generic NICs..

Try googling for ethernet bonding or similar

Tosk · 2 Apr 2006 at 14:50

the only good for home use with 2 nics are for bridging so you can have 2 pcs in the same room sharing the network or net with out the use of any hub/switch, router

but Amoeba, is right linux does a better job by letting you link them giving more bandwidth

Caged · 2 Apr 2006 at 16:16

Jokester said:
Are there actually any practical uses for 2 on board NICs for a home user?

Jokester

I think it's so people can share their connections (USB broadband isn't that popular outside the UK) without having to buy anything else.

In the case of nForce boards having 2 NICs, it's so you can avoid the nVidia one totally and use the 3com, which at least works. Which is more than can be said for the nVidia adapters.