Multiple network card configuration.

[twentyseven]

I am relatively new to FreeNAS but have been running a successful build for some time now, so please forgive my basic question.

I am running FreeNAS 9.2 on a motherboard with an onboard 10/100 network interface. I would like to insert a GB network card into one of the PCI slots.

Should I just use only the new network card, or is there any benefit in using the two network interfaces (onboard and PCI) in parallel? (if it is even possible).

Is there anything else that I need to be aware of when using a PCI network card with FreeNAS?

Thanks in advance.

Build FreeNAS-9.2.1.5-RELEASE-x64 (80c1d35)
Platform AMD Phenom(tm) 9750 Quad-Core Processor
Memory 8170MB

 

[Ericloewe]

You'll certainly never see any benefit if you use a 10/100 adapter (even if it were GbE, most would recommend against it).

Do you mean PCI or PCI-e? PCI is probably going to be a bottleneck.

In either case, get a 30 buck Intel GbE adapter and you'll be happy.

 

[twentyseven]

Thanks Eric. I spent the $30. I have increased my copy speed to over 100 MB/s which is a vast improvement.

It seems like a waste to leave the onboard ethernet just sitting there doing nothing. Is there anything that it would be useful for? rsync backup or something?

 

[Ericloewe]

Thanks Eric. I spent the $30. I have increased my copy speed to over 100 MB/s which is a vast improvement.

It seems like a waste to leave the onboard ethernet just sitting there doing nothing. Is there anything that it would be useful for? rsync backup or something?

Think of it as backup in the unlikely event that the Intel card fails. Other than that, there's no way it could help.

 

[panz]

$ 30 is cheap...

 

[toadman]

is there any benefit in using the two network interfaces (onboard and PCI) in parallel? (if it is even possible).

I would not advise mixing a 10/100 and a GbE in fail over or other production traffic.

One situation where you might use the 10/100 is if you have a separate "management" network (and potentially separate VLAN). You'd put the FreeNAS GUI on that network and use the 10/100 since you don't need much bandwidth for that task. Then the GbE would be used for production traffic via your preferred sharing protocol.