Topic: binding 2 NICs in server only mode

[raem]

In sme7RC1 in server only mode, when the server has 2 NIC's, there is an option in the Configuration screen to bind the two NIC's together for better throughput.

Can a developer or someone knowledgable give a brief explanation & usage information about this.

Is it a case of just selecting the option and the system takes care of the rest ??

[byte]

Ray,

Have a look here...

http://bugs.contribs.org/show_bug.cgi?id=935

http://bugs.contribs.org/show_bug.cgi?id=776

http://bugs.contribs.org/show_bug.cgi?id=449

I'm sure one of those will help maybe 449

[CharlieBrady]

Can a developer or someone knowledgable give a brief explanation & usage information about this.

http://www.google.ca/search?q=linux+NIC+bonding

[raem]

Thanks Charlie & byte

I looked at those search results & this link explains it reasonably well for Debian Sarge
http://www.howtoforge.com/nic_bonding

"The concept of NIC Bonding (or sometimes called NIC Teaming) is that you have two NICs bonded together to appear as if they are the same physical device. I.e. They will both present the same Hardware (MAC) address. This is accomplished through the ifenslave utility, which enables the kernel to see/use only one device, while it sends out packtes via the two slave devices using a round-robbin scheduler."

"Before attempting to bond two NICs, it is highly recommended that you verify the integrity and functionality of each NIC on its own. This document assumes that you've already done that. Using 'mii-tool' you should see something like the following:
testbox:/# mii-tool
eth0: negotiated 100baseTx-FD, link ok
eth1: negotiated 100baseTx-FD, link ok
"

Also this article
http://jamesthornton.com/redhat/linux/Enterprise/4/Reference-Guide/s1-modules-ethernet.html

[raem]

>Is it a case of just selecting the option and the system takes care of the rest ?

Appears to be.
Connect both NICs to your switch or hub, or to sperate switches/hubs on the same VLAN
check with
ifconfig

Throughput speed will depend on various factors including bus speed.

[Alex Schaft]

Hi,

Is it possible to bond two different kind of network cards? I've got two cards on board (e1000 and sky2), but I don't get the bonding question in the console.

Running server-only mode

[bpivk]

But how do you unbond two nics?

[pfloor]

Hi,

Is it possible to bond two different kind of network cards? I've got two cards on board (e1000 and sky2), but I don't get the bonding question in the console.

Running server-only mode

No, the 2 nics must be identical (same make, model AND version)

[pfloor]

But how do you unbond two nics?

You need to change back to server/gateway mode.

[william_syd]

But how do you unbond two nics?

You need to change back to server/gateway mode.

He's already there...
http://forums.contribs.org/index.php?topic=34722.msg150407#msg150407

I thought you could just go back into server-console and un-bond them (for a server-only setup).