Question about 2.5GbE networking

[TallSeaBird]

If I have a 1GbE router which cascades down to a 1GbE switch and I cascade down to a new 2.5GbE switch - will the devices connected to the 2.5GbE switch operate at 2.5Gb speeds? Do all 'routes' have to go through the router? (When I talk about 1GbE and 2.5GbE I know these are theoretical maximums)

 

[ChrisD.]

will the devices connected to the 2.5GbE switch operate at 2.5Gb speeds

They will operate at 2.5 Gbps with any other device also connected to a 2.5 GbE port on the switch, when the device has a 2.5 GbE NIC, and the devices are on the same subnet. Anything upstream via the 1 GbE port will talk at 1GbE.

As an example, if you had a NAS and a PC both with 2.5 GbE NICs, connected to the 2.5 GbE switch ports on the switch, and if they're on the same network, theoretical maximum is 2.5 Gbps. If the PC talks to something connected to the 1 GbE router, it'll be at 1 Gbps.

 

[ED209]

As mentioned, you will need to make sure the PCs\laptops\Devices have a 2.5GbE NICs otherwise they will still only connect at the NICs max speed

If you connect a PC with a 1GbE NIC to a 2.5GbE port it will only have a max speed of 1GbE as you would need a 2.5GbE NIC to connect at that speed.

 

[TallSeaBird]

Thanks, that's my question answered. I have a NAS with 2 2.5GbE NIC's and a mini PC with 2 2.5GbE NIC's and I might investigate getting a 2.5GbE to USB adaptor for my Synology NAS.

 

[Minato]

Thanks, that's my question answered. I have a NAS with 2 2.5GbE NIC's and a mini PC with 2 2.5GbE NIC's and I might investigate getting a 2.5GbE to USB adaptor for my Synology NAS.

Yep no issue, this is what I've done as well. 2.5G port on router to 2.5G switch. 2.5G switch to desktop PC and NAS. NAS using adaptor.

 

[TallSeaBird]

The top of the tree is a 1GbE router which initially cascades down to a 1GbE switch - the 2.5GbE devices all sit below that

 

[Sparx]

The top of the tree is a 1GbE router which initially cascades down to a 1GbE switch - the 2.5GbE devices all sit below that

Yeah, as mentioned for the LAN side - anything in the 2.5Gb switch can talk to each other at that speed, assuming they have the capable LAN adapter.

Otherwise anything further up the chain will be 1Gb limited.