Multiple NICs...

Question

Firstly hello to everyone on the forums.   I'm a network manger at a school in Yeovil ,somerset, UK. We are in the process of rollin out to 2003 server using 3 poweredge 2800 servers from NT4 and 2000 servers.   The 2800s are a lovely piece of kit and arrived with 4 gigabit NICs each. We have in place a gig backbone over fibre which is run across the HP procurve switches with a layer 3 switch at the servers all on a single subnet.   My question: Is it possible to somehow 'bond' the 4 gig nics on each server to a single IP address for load balancing and efficiency, it seems a crying shame not to be able to use the bandwidth and processing power. I have looked at clustering, but by design seems to complicate what i am trying to achieve.   Any help or advice greatly appreciated

jmwills · Answer

A 4 gig NIC?  That's a new one for me.  All this will do you no good if the switch is not as fast as the NIC's.

networkassociat · Answer

the switch is full on gigabit, each NIc having its own port i was assuming some form of ALB could be used to provide redundancy, increase throughput etc.   Looking in the forums peeps have mentioned NIc teaming which seems to provide what I am looking for.

jmwills · Answer

I've never heard of such since the days of 56k modems.

networkassociat · Answer

Sorted it, managed to use the Intel Pro software to bond the 4 gig ports on each of the 4 servers and used ALB, working well, major through put and highly efficient.....

fsv_it · Answer

networkassociate,

Did you just setup Adaptive Load Balancing in the Intel ProSet configuration?

If so, how did you test your throughput. I have a 100 base switch right now that i am connected on with my team, but i have not really noticed a huge increase in performance. I am contemplating purchasing a gigabit switch and teaming the adapters on it if this will give me more throughput (60MB/s versus 30MB/s not teamed). So is this working for you?

Thanks,

Ryan

WatchingFromBac · Answer

The 2800 is an awsome server - one of three for this Generation Proc.  But, the NIC capacity on this design per port is only 1Gig not 4Gig.  The next gen of NIC's to hit will be the 10Gig.   FYI, there are three basic functions of 'NIC Teaming'.  Load Balancing, Fault Tolerance, and Aggregation.    Sounds like a fun project.  Want to hear more from you.  Continue.

networkassociat · Answer

sorry for the delay in getting back, been a tad busy on roll outs.... anyway in answer to the questions and to clear a fewq points up.   On the servers I have 4 x 1 gig intel NICs, using the Pro software I have teamed the adapters this was for 2 reasons, redundancy and increased throughput using adaptive load balancing. ALB has switch limitations, however in this instance they are running through a HP Pro Curve modular layer 3 switch, each module carrying 24 x 1 x gig ports.   Teaming the adapters in this way  from my understanding allows all NICs to work under a single primary IP address as though they were one adapter, should one fail there is no disruption in service as another member of the team will take over. ALB - adaptive load balancing allows data to be balanced across the team, in effect giving an aggregate throughput of 8Gbps. It is a wonderfull idea and thus far quite effective.   The only way I have been able to judge as to wether the throughput has been increased is in application response. At work we use software designed specifically for schools, namely a product called SIMS, usually dog slow through the authentication etc there is a marked improvment in the before and after....   Once I have completed the rest of the roll outs I will be looking to purchase software that will be able to test throughput etc, as yet I haven't has the time to research this properly......   Can anyone recomend a product?

fsv_it · Answer

I have successfully installed a Gigabit Switch and I set up each server on it to work with aggregated links, once i did this my throughput went from 10 MB/s to 22 MB/s.. not impressed. so I turned on Jumbo Packets. Then my throughput peaked at 103 MB/s but averages around 50 MB/s. So I have got some new NIC's on order, the "good" inel Dual Port Gigabit NIC's. I have been testing with FTP and a 350 MB File.

I will keep others posted if still interested.

Gerry Barnett · Answer

To network associate,

Hi Can you tell me whether you had to enable.disable spanning tree on the switch ports connected to your ALB team adapters. The help specifically states the ST requirements for other modes but not for ALB.

Thanks,

Gerry

networkassociat · Answer

Evening, no spanning tree is NOT enabled. There is no redundant links between the switches so disabled by default. The switches do have to be able to support the protocol used in 'teaming' . ALB, from what I understand however is serverside in software, not switch side in hardware. It's the teaming itself which the switch must able to support. All other functions are controlled on the server. Regards

PowerEdge Hardware General

Multiple NICs...

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