Worth getting a Mobo with 3+ LAN ports and onboard SATA vs. a SAS card?

[BobRoss]

Hey everyone, second post!

I have everything ready to go except my MoBo, this will be used for large file storage and a media server 8x 4TB drives

I have a really nice 24-port corporate grade switch, and my main PC has 3x 1GB LAN ports (aggregated). How important the network connection speeds? Should I get a MoBo that also has 3 LAN ports?

Also I do have a LSI SAS 9211-8i 6Gb/s SAS Host Bus Adapter. Would it be worth using this card over on-board SATA? Chances are I will be getting a board with only 1x PCI-Express 2.0 x8 slot. Should I sacrifice the slot for the SAS card or for additional network ports?

Thanks for any advise!

 

[pirateghost]

Why do you think more ports will help?

 

[BobRoss]

Why do you think more ports will help?

Well I assume 3x GB to 3x GB over a network is going to be faster transfer than 1GB to 1GB?

 

[Ericloewe]

Well I assume 3x GB to 3x GB over a network is going to be faster transfer than 1GB to 1GB?

If it worked like that, which it doesn't.

 

[hugovsky]

Imagine you have 1 car that does 200 miles/h. If you have 3 cars will they do 600 miles/h?

 

[depasseg]

Should I get a MoBo that also has 3 LAN ports?

No, unless this server will be handling simultaneous multiple high bandwidth requests from 3 or more client machines.

 

[pirateghost]

I'm going to assume the OP uses Windows NIC teaming...which does what everyone wished LACP or LAGG would do in every other OS. It doesn't work like that on any other OS

 

[BobRoss]

I'm going to assume the OP uses Windows NIC teaming...which does what everyone wished LACP or LAGG would do in every other OS. It doesn't work like that on any other OS

I do. Here is a picture of my LAND connection setup:

So this setup isn't going to help file transfer any better than a singe LAN port to my NAS machine at all (assuming my NAS has multiple LAN ports)?

Also what about the SATA situation? Is onboard good enough or should I use my LSI SAS 9211-8i 6Gb/s SAS Host Bus Adapter?

BTW thank you for the help everyone!

 

[jgreco]

Imagine you have 1 car that does 200 miles/h. If you have 3 cars will they do 600 miles/h?

You really need to put a C&C warning (cats and coffee) on stuff like that. Geeeeeeeeez...!

 

[jgreco]

So this setup isn't going to help file transfer any better than a singe LAN port to my NAS machine at all (assuming my NAS has multiple LAN ports)?

Picture didn't work I guess? Maybe try uploading it as a file and then inserting a thumbnail.

Also what about the SATA situation? Is onboard good enough or should I use my LSI SAS 9211-8i 6Gb/s SAS Host Bus Adapter?

BTW thank you for the help everyone!

Onboard actually performs a little better than the 9211-8i, assuming that the onboard is "something Intel."

 

[hugovsky]

You really need to put a C&C warning (cats and coffee) on stuff like that. Geeeeeeeeez...!

:D:D Well... C&C warning then!

 

[pirateghost]

I do. Here is a picture of my LAND connection setup:

So this setup isn't going to help file transfer any better than a singe LAN port to my NAS machine at all (assuming my NAS has multiple LAN ports)?

Also what about the SATA situation? Is onboard good enough or should I use my LSI SAS 9211-8i 6Gb/s SAS Host Bus Adapter?

BTW thank you for the help everyone!

FreeBSD and Linux don't aggregate ports like Windows does. Windows isn't LACP or fail over LAGG which are your options on FreeNAS. LACP requires a compatible switch and will not do what you want.

 

[BobRoss]

FreeBSD and Linux don't aggregate ports like Windows does. Windows isn't LACP or fail over LAGG which are your options on FreeNAS. LACP requires a compatible switch and will not do what you want.

I have a Netgear GS724T switch that supports both LACP and static LAG. So this is confusing. FreeNas will use link aggregation with this switch and even though my windows ports are bonded they still wont talk to FreeNas at 3GB... This is really confusing.

 

[pirateghost]

I have a Netgear GS724T switch that supports both LACP and static LAG. So this is confusing. FreeNas will use link aggregation with this switch and even though my windows ports are bonded they still wont talk to FreeNas at 3GB... This is really confusing.

Windows doesn't use standard LAGG/LACP. FreeNAS will not aggregate links to increase speed to one client. It will aggregate links to create more available pipe for MANY clients to push through

 

[pirateghost]

https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/30541/

 

[BobRoss]

https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/30541/

Ok got it. Stop B.S.ing around and just upgrade to 10Gbe haha.

 

[jgreco]

FreeBSD and Linux don't aggregate ports like Windows does.

"Aggregate ports" is a poorly defined concept and a horribly executed technology anyways, which is why there was so much angst and handwringing when they made the LACP protocol.

Ok got it. Stop B.S.ing around and just upgrade to 10Gbe haha.

Yeah, pretty much, I know that may not be what you wanted to hear, but it is the practical takeaway.

 

[BobRoss]

Wonder if its just going to be cheaper to just get one of these

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MEVYBAS/?tag=ozlp-20

The also make a model that comes with 10GBe... When it is all said and done after Power-supply, Mobo, RAM etc I can even have HDMI out all in a nice package. Ugh... I hate this.

 

[jgreco]

Certainly cheaper. However, in the end, the FreeNAS box is probably a lot more capable and more powerful. It's a tradeoff.