Networking.... what would happen if?...

[LazyLion]

OK, so I have a gigabit network running through the house among the various PCs. Some of the PCs have two adapters.

What would happen if I connected the network in a "ring"

say... if I bridged the adapters on one computer and fed the cable back to the main hub? would that improve speed? or would it introduce some kind of "loopback" conflict?

 

[ghalied]

No improvement in speed, conflict yes as Hubs are just repeaters, get a switch even a cheap 10/100mb, you'll get csma/cd for free which cuts down your conflicts, and you'll get to run the cards at 100mb Fdx, but a gigabit switch would do all that you require and you don't need to bridge even with the 100mb switch.

 

[LazyLion]

No improvement in speed, conflict yes as Hubs are just repeaters, get a switch even a cheap 10/100mb, you'll get csma/cd for free which cuts down your conflicts, and you'll get to run the cards at 100mb Fdx, but a gigabit switch would do all that you require and you don't need to bridge even with the 100mb switch.

so with my gigabit switches there is no need or benefit to looping or bridging the connection? The computer upstairs does not have a gigabit NIC (I dont' think).

I thought by looping the connection I could transfer up at 100 Mbps and down at 100 Mbps.

Just wondering. for theory purposes, ya know... interest's sake!

 

[nivek]

do your gigabit switches support link aggregation?

 

[LazyLion]

do your gigabit switches support link aggregation?

um, it does not say anything about that on the box.

This is the model....

http://www.d-link.co.za/dgs-1005d.php

 

[nivek]

ah
then no you wont get any speed benefits/nor be able to bridge the NIC's

if you configure both nic's to use the same subnet (if thats possible) all you're going to do is confuse your O/S and either 1 of the NIC's wont be used, or you wont have any network connectivity at all

 

[hawker]

Everything could go up in smoke if thats what you are looking for!

 

[ghalied]

do your gigabit switches support link aggregation?

i doubt that he requires an etherchannel as his nic's won't support it and it's a waste of ports and he has no requirement for STP or RSTP or teaming as they are gigabit interfaces on a home network.

save yourself some aggro and purchase a nice 2nd hand/inepensive 8 port gigabit switch and you'll be happy as larry for ages.

 

[nivek]

never mentioned stp its got nothing to do with link agg/trunking

he already has an inexpensive gigabit switch