Two Network Cards in Same tower

**Heeter** · November 30th, 2004

Hi Guys,

I am thinking: Can it be possible to put 2 ethernet PCI cards into one tower, then connect 2 cat5 cables from two different ports of my router into each ethernet card, then somehow bridge the PCI cards so that it transfers data from router to tower over the 2 cat5's, thereby theoretically doubling the transfer rate (or at least see a significant boost in speed).

The reason I ask is that sometimes the data that moves to and from my three "workstations" to my FileServer overwhelmes the network connections, and it then shuts down the network. I then have to go around and reboot all the machines, sometimes including the router as well, although that is a lot less frequent.

If the 2 card thing does not make sense, or cannot be attained, what can I do to "toughen up" my network connections?

Thanks in advance,

Heeter

**Electronic Punk** · November 30th, 2004

It is possible but whether it is only possible with specific models I don't know.
I think its called Teaming or something like that - a few of our servers have the ability.

These days gig NICs seem to come with everything, but gig switches are still very expensive, would be nice to get one - in fact I am sat infront of one but I can't take it home

**Mainframeguy** · November 30th, 2004

Interesting - this requirement usually comes for a different reason.... But you WILL find that if you search the subject had come up before and almost always been problematic. So although the problems are largely overcome you can expect the two NIC's to "fight" to be "the one" for your machine and you will have to make them strike a truce!

Then I doubt you can double the bandwidth - I guess this means you are putting the two NIC's into the fileserver. However if there is one other machine that is trouble you could in theory make a direct connection to the fielserver with a crossover from it to one NIC and use only the other NIC to go to the router. This machine would be enjoying preferential access I guess..... but this would be "hard wired" so you need to weigh up pros and cons....

**Electronic Punk** · November 30th, 2004

Well you could put the two NICs on the same subnet, would be interesting

Wonder what would happen if you pinged by hostname etc.

DwarfData · November 30th, 2004

Originally Posted by Electronic Punk

These days gig NICs seem to come with everything, but gig switches are still very expensive, would be nice to get one - in fact I am sat infront of one but I can't take it home

I just bought a 5 port Gig Switch for £49+VAT http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=133250

**Electronic Punk** · November 30th, 2004

Neat... I am gonna drop having a switch soon to be honest.
Only my PC and my Xbox are now connected with cat5/6 cable - everything else is wireless..

Will prob get a Wireless G router eventually and force everyone using B to get a decent wireless card.

**ming** · November 30th, 2004

All the latest Gigabyte motherboards come with two ethernet ports on-board.

**Heeter** · November 30th, 2004

It is not one machine by itself transferring data to the file server, it is a culmination of all machines transferring data to/from the File Server that is when everything will choke up.
Hard wireing the machines together is not a viable choice in this case, all machines are in different areas. The actual File Server is mere inches from the router, but all other machines are scattered throughout the house.

I have heard of "Bridging" connections, is this what I can do here?

Thanks for all your input so far.

Can/Would the Cat5 cable itself be the limiting factor if all hardware components gets moved up to gigabit from 10/100?

Heeter

**Electronic Punk** · November 30th, 2004

While cat5 can reach gig speeds I don't know if it can sustain is very well.
Cat6 looks the same and does

**funky dredd** · November 30th, 2004

Originally Posted by Electronic Punk

It is possible but whether it is only possible with specific models I don't know.
I think its called Teaming or something like that - a few of our servers have the ability.

These days gig NICs seem to come with everything, but gig switches are still very expensive, would be nice to get one - in fact I am sat infront of one but I can't take it home

It is called teaming. I recently used teaming to accomplish a (approx) 57 gig move from server to server. Worked very well!

**Heeter** · November 30th, 2004

Teaming

Can I accomplish this with my network, working properly on a day to day basis? With the router that I have (Linksys BEFR41)? I do have extra 10/100 PCI cards around.

Heeter

**Steevo** · November 30th, 2004

Download X-Setup Pro and it has teh option for load balancing between multiple NIC's. I have two in my PC at home and a modem, and have no problem.

So far as the interface, mebey add the server to the HOSTS file on different PC's with teh IP-NIC you want it to pull from.

As in

192.168.1.1 Server

and

192.168.1.2 Server

**Kush** · November 30th, 2004

Originally Posted by Electronic Punk

It is possible but whether it is only possible with specific models I don't know.
I think its called Teaming or something like that - a few of our servers have the ability.

These days gig NICs seem to come with everything, but gig switches are still very expensive, would be nice to get one - in fact I am sat infront of one but I can't take it home

doesnt seem to expensive to me
Clicktiy Click

**FishBoy** · November 30th, 2004

i thought of doing that once but i didn't think it would work coz each network card will have it's connection or each connection will be only focussing on one card and plus they are not the same brand

**Heeter** · December 2nd, 2004

Originally Posted by Steevo

Download X-Setup Pro and it has teh option for load balancing between multiple NIC's. I have two in my PC at home and a modem, and have no problem.

So far as the interface, mebey add the server to the HOSTS file on different PC's with teh IP-NIC you want it to pull from.

As in

192.168.1.1 Server

and

192.168.1.2 Server

I kind of lost you on the second part of your answer. How would it be able to work in a "Workgroup" home network setting like mine? By using the home network setup wizard as I did, the machine as a whole was recognized, not by it's network card.

Or at least that's how I thought it worked.

Heeter

**Maveric169** · December 2nd, 2004

If i am understanding correctly, and correct me if I am wrong, you want to use 2 nic cards to double you net speed bandwidth right?

If that is the case it wouldn't work the way your thinking due to the fact hat your max throughput of your single connection is the best your going to get from your ISP. IE: If your getting a 1.5MB down and 256mb up, no matter how many Nic cards you have the most your ISP is going to give you is 1.5MB down 256mb up. You couldn't pull say 3.0MB down because you have 2 nic cards.

**vern** · December 2nd, 2004

^ I think he is referring to transfers within his network.

I'm also curious on how this could be done.

**Heeter** · December 2nd, 2004

Originally Posted by Maveric169

If i am understanding correctly, and correct me if I am wrong, you want to use 2 nic cards to double you net speed bandwidth right?

If that is the case it wouldn't work the way your thinking due to the fact hat your max throughput of your single connection is the best your going to get from your ISP. IE: If your getting a 1.5MB down and 256mb up, no matter how many Nic cards you have the most your ISP is going to give you is 1.5MB down 256mb up. You couldn't pull say 3.0MB down because you have 2 nic cards.

Hi Maverick169,

It is actually within the network that I am looking for sustained file/data transfers without the whole system collapsing when it gets overwhelmed when the workstations are transferring files/data to the FileServer through a router. If there is someway I could strengthen the network between the FileServer and the router (ie:2 ports from router, through 2 cat5s to 2 nics in FileServer) then I can envision a very strong network connection for my setup. I am not looking at actually boosting internet speeds, I know I cannot accomplish this without outright giving more money per month to my ISP.

Heeter

**Steevo** · December 2nd, 2004

You can use your HOSTS file on a network client to specify what IP address is assigned to what machine or NIC.

It will override ANY other setting.

So if you have two network cards in your server.
192.168.1.1 Server
192.168.1.2 Server

You can tell half the computers on your network to access 192.168.1.1 and the other half to access 192.168.1.2 through use of your hosts file. This is also useful for controlling access to files on a machine.

I can disable a PC from accessing a network machine by creating a invalid IP to name configuration.

159.61.51.207 Server (is correct) creates a name-IP connection
159.61.51.0 Server (is false) will not allow-create a connection

November 30th, 2004	Top \| #1
Heeter Overclocked Like A Mother Joined: July 2002 Location: In front of my computer Posts: 2,729 Reputation: 684 Power: 154	Two Network Cards in Same tower Hi Guys, I am thinking: Can it be possible to put 2 ethernet PCI cards into one tower, then connect 2 cat5 cables from two different ports of my router into each ethernet card, then somehow bridge the PCI cards so that it transfers data from router to tower over the 2 cat5's, thereby theoretically doubling the transfer rate (or at least see a significant boost in speed). The reason I ask is that sometimes the data that moves to and from my three "workstations" to my FileServer overwhelmes the network connections, and it then shuts down the network. I then have to go around and reboot all the machines, sometimes including the router as well, although that is a lot less frequent. If the 2 card thing does not make sense, or cannot be attained, what can I do to "toughen up" my network connections? Thanks in advance, Heeter

November 30th, 2004	Top \| #3
Mainframeguy Debiant by way of Ubuntu Joined: August 2002 Location: London, UK Posts: 3,763 Blog Entries: 5 Reputation: 1390 Power: 169	Interesting - this requirement usually comes for a different reason.... But you WILL find that if you search the subject had come up before and almost always been problematic. So although the problems are largely overcome you can expect the two NIC's to "fight" to be "the one" for your machine and you will have to make them strike a truce! Then I doubt you can double the bandwidth - I guess this means you are putting the two NIC's into the fileserver. However if there is one other machine that is trouble you could in theory make a direct connection to the fielserver with a crossover from it to one NIC and use only the other NIC to go to the router. This machine would be enjoying preferential access I guess..... but this would be "hard wired" so you need to weigh up pros and cons.... hosted by Lord

November 30th, 2004	Top \| #5
DwarfData OSNN Addict Joined: February 2004 Location: Lancashire, UK Posts: 135 Reputation: 80 Power: 103	Originally Posted by Electronic Punk These days gig NICs seem to come with everything, but gig switches are still very expensive, would be nice to get one - in fact I am sat infront of one but I can't take it home I just bought a 5 port Gig Switch for £49+VAT http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=133250

November 30th, 2004	Top \| #7
ming OSNN Advanced Joined: June 2003 Location: UK Posts: 4,252 Reputation: 1160 Power: 162	All the latest Gigabyte motherboards come with two ethernet ports on-board. Curent system: Intel Quad Core 9450 \| 4GB RAM \| WD Raptor 36GB \| nVidia 8800GT 512mb

November 30th, 2004	Top \| #10
funky dredd OSNN Veteran Addict Joined: August 2002 Location: Florida Posts: 2,346 Reputation: 300 Power: 146	Originally Posted by Electronic Punk It is possible but whether it is only possible with specific models I don't know. I think its called Teaming or something like that - a few of our servers have the ability. These days gig NICs seem to come with everything, but gig switches are still very expensive, would be nice to get one - in fact I am sat infront of one but I can't take it home It is called teaming. I recently used teaming to accomplish a (approx) 57 gig move from server to server. Worked very well!

Latest News Posts

Latest Forum Posts

Latest Member Blogs

November 30th, 2004	Top \| #2
Electronic Punk The Last High Joined: December 2001 Location: London Posts: 18,510 Blog Entries: 51 Reputation: 3652 Power: 349	It is possible but whether it is only possible with specific models I don't know. I think its called Teaming or something like that - a few of our servers have the ability. These days gig NICs seem to come with everything, but gig switches are still very expensive, would be nice to get one - in fact I am sat infront of one but I can't take it home

November 30th, 2004	Top \| #4
Electronic Punk The Last High Joined: December 2001 Location: London Posts: 18,510 Blog Entries: 51 Reputation: 3652 Power: 349	Well you could put the two NICs on the same subnet, would be interesting Wonder what would happen if you pinged by hostname etc.

November 30th, 2004	Top \| #6
Electronic Punk The Last High Joined: December 2001 Location: London Posts: 18,510 Blog Entries: 51 Reputation: 3652 Power: 349	Neat... I am gonna drop having a switch soon to be honest. Only my PC and my Xbox are now connected with cat5/6 cable - everything else is wireless.. Will prob get a Wireless G router eventually and force everyone using B to get a decent wireless card.

November 30th, 2004	Top \| #8
Heeter Overclocked Like A Mother Joined: July 2002 Location: In front of my computer Posts: 2,729 Reputation: 684 Power: 154	It is not one machine by itself transferring data to the file server, it is a culmination of all machines transferring data to/from the File Server that is when everything will choke up. Hard wireing the machines together is not a viable choice in this case, all machines are in different areas. The actual File Server is mere inches from the router, but all other machines are scattered throughout the house. I have heard of "Bridging" connections, is this what I can do here? Thanks for all your input so far. Can/Would the Cat5 cable itself be the limiting factor if all hardware components gets moved up to gigabit from 10/100? Heeter

November 30th, 2004	Top \| #9
Electronic Punk The Last High Joined: December 2001 Location: London Posts: 18,510 Blog Entries: 51 Reputation: 3652 Power: 349	While cat5 can reach gig speeds I don't know if it can sustain is very well. Cat6 looks the same and does

November 30th, 2004	Top \| #11
Heeter Overclocked Like A Mother Joined: July 2002 Location: In front of my computer Posts: 2,729 Reputation: 684 Power: 154	Teaming Can I accomplish this with my network, working properly on a day to day basis? With the router that I have (Linksys BEFR41)? I do have extra 10/100 PCI cards around. Heeter

November 30th, 2004	Top \| #12
Steevo Spammer representing. Joined: September 2004 Posts: 2,566 Blog Entries: 2 Reputation: 1630 Power: 136	Download X-Setup Pro and it has teh option for load balancing between multiple NIC's. I have two in my PC at home and a modem, and have no problem. So far as the interface, mebey add the server to the HOSTS file on different PC's with teh IP-NIC you want it to pull from. As in 192.168.1.1 Server and 192.168.1.2 Server Meow. Equal oppertunity hater.

November 30th, 2004	Top \| #13
Kush High On Life! Joined: January 2002 Location: Montreal, Quebec Posts: 4,590 Reputation: 1300 Power: 185	Originally Posted by Electronic Punk It is possible but whether it is only possible with specific models I don't know. I think its called Teaming or something like that - a few of our servers have the ability. These days gig NICs seem to come with everything, but gig switches are still very expensive, would be nice to get one - in fact I am sat infront of one but I can't take it home doesnt seem to expensive to me Clicktiy Click If Someones post is helpful or makes you laugh, reward the person by clicking on this button--->

November 30th, 2004	Top \| #14
FishBoy Feeeesh Joined: August 2004 Location: Khobar, Saudi Arabia (for summer vacay) Posts: 1,685 Reputation: 530 Power: 117	i thought of doing that once but i didn't think it would work coz each network card will have it's connection or each connection will be only focussing on one card and plus they are not the same brand

December 2nd, 2004	Top \| #15
Heeter Overclocked Like A Mother Joined: July 2002 Location: In front of my computer Posts: 2,729 Reputation: 684 Power: 154	Originally Posted by Steevo Download X-Setup Pro and it has teh option for load balancing between multiple NIC's. I have two in my PC at home and a modem, and have no problem. So far as the interface, mebey add the server to the HOSTS file on different PC's with teh IP-NIC you want it to pull from. As in 192.168.1.1 Server and 192.168.1.2 Server I kind of lost you on the second part of your answer. How would it be able to work in a "Workgroup" home network setting like mine? By using the home network setup wizard as I did, the machine as a whole was recognized, not by it's network card. Or at least that's how I thought it worked. Heeter

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
2 Network cards?	failurbydesign	Windows Desktop Systems	9	January 4th, 2007 9:39pm
Can two network cards work for me?	Heeter	General Hardware	13	October 26th, 2006 10:01am
Different PCI RAID cards in same tower	Heeter	General Hardware	2	November 29th, 2004 8:51pm
network cards?	cky	Windows Desktop Systems	1	January 17th, 2003 3:02am
Network Cards	ak47	Windows Desktop Systems	1	October 25th, 2002 9:38am

December 2nd, 2004	Top \| #16
Maveric169 The Voices Talk to Me Joined: December 2002 Location: Elkhart, IN Posts: 1,148 Reputation: 130 Power: 128	If i am understanding correctly, and correct me if I am wrong, you want to use 2 nic cards to double you net speed bandwidth right? If that is the case it wouldn't work the way your thinking due to the fact hat your max throughput of your single connection is the best your going to get from your ISP. IE: If your getting a 1.5MB down and 256mb up, no matter how many Nic cards you have the most your ISP is going to give you is 1.5MB down 256mb up. You couldn't pull say 3.0MB down because you have 2 nic cards. Disclaimer: Past performace and emerging trends are not always accurate predictors for future events. Consult your employeer reguarding overtime possibilies incase I am wrong and you have to buy more stuff. AMD Athlon 64 3000+ \| Gigabyte GA-K8NS Mobo \| 1 Gig Crucial XMS Ram \| Maxtor 200GB Sata Drive 8Meg Cache Primary Drive \| 60GB Backup Drive \| ATI 9550 \| Antec Trio 430W PSU \| Custom Case *Check out my new website* *http://13-dragons.net/*

December 2nd, 2004	Top \| #17
vern Dominus Joined: March 2002 Location: Minnesota, USA Posts: 1,570 Reputation: 660 Power: 146	^ I think he is referring to transfers within his network. I'm also curious on how this could be done. free illegal pr0n @ ribbed.us

December 2nd, 2004	Top \| #18
Heeter Overclocked Like A Mother Joined: July 2002 Location: In front of my computer Posts: 2,729 Reputation: 684 Power: 154	Originally Posted by Maveric169 If i am understanding correctly, and correct me if I am wrong, you want to use 2 nic cards to double you net speed bandwidth right? If that is the case it wouldn't work the way your thinking due to the fact hat your max throughput of your single connection is the best your going to get from your ISP. IE: If your getting a 1.5MB down and 256mb up, no matter how many Nic cards you have the most your ISP is going to give you is 1.5MB down 256mb up. You couldn't pull say 3.0MB down because you have 2 nic cards. Hi Maverick169, It is actually within the network that I am looking for sustained file/data transfers without the whole system collapsing when it gets overwhelmed when the workstations are transferring files/data to the FileServer through a router. If there is someway I could strengthen the network between the FileServer and the router (ie:2 ports from router, through 2 cat5s to 2 nics in FileServer) then I can envision a very strong network connection for my setup. I am not looking at actually boosting internet speeds, I know I cannot accomplish this without outright giving more money per month to my ISP. Heeter

December 2nd, 2004	Top \| #19
Steevo Spammer representing. Joined: September 2004 Posts: 2,566 Blog Entries: 2 Reputation: 1630 Power: 136	You can use your HOSTS file on a network client to specify what IP address is assigned to what machine or NIC. It will override ANY other setting. So if you have two network cards in your server. 192.168.1.1 Server 192.168.1.2 Server You can tell half the computers on your network to access 192.168.1.1 and the other half to access 192.168.1.2 through use of your hosts file. This is also useful for controlling access to files on a machine. I can disable a PC from accessing a network machine by creating a invalid IP to name configuration. 159.61.51.207 Server (is correct) creates a name-IP connection 159.61.51.0 Server (is false) will not allow-create a connection Meow. Equal oppertunity hater.