Do port speeds stack?

[Gin N Rum 5454]

So when it comes to networking I am quite the noobie. I was wondering, if I got a network card that had, for example, 4 ports rated at 1gbps each, if I had 4 ethernets plugged in does that mean I can then, for example, transfer files to other machines on that network at 4gbps? Do they stack like or is that not how it works.

[YoungBlade]

In practice, no. That's not how it works. You'll only get 1Gbps with that card.

 

In theory, it could, but it's not trivial. To do that requires setting up what's called "link aggregation" which is a feature that needs to be supported by the network card, the switch/router that you're running it to, any other machines you want to do that with, and potentially by the software you're using. LTT has featured it a few times, and it can be rather buggy and hard to set up. It's not recommended, especially if you're new to networking.

[johnno23]

each port is capable of a 1gbps that does not make it a 4gbps card.

[AbydosOne]

4 minutes ago, Gin N Rum 5454 said:

So when it comes to networking I am quite the noobie. I was wondering, if I got a network card that had, for example, 4 ports rated at 1gbps each, if I had 4 ethernets plugged in does that mean I can then, for example, transfer files to other machines on that network at 4gbps? Do they stack like or is that not how it works.

Generally no.

 

There are specific applications that can do it (SMB multichannel comes to mind), but it's not automatic and it's not widely supported.

 

There are also LAGs (link aggregation groups), but my understanding is that these just allow multiple concurrent connections on the host with several clients at the line speed of each single link.

[Gin N Rum 5454]

2 minutes ago, YoungBlade said:

In practice, no. That's not how it works. You'll only get 1Gbps with that card.

 

In theory, it could, but it's not trivial. To do that requires setting up what's called "link aggregation" which is a feature that needs to be supported by the network card, the switch/router that you're running it to, any other machines you want to do that with, and potentially by the software you're using. LTT has featured it a few times, and it can be rather buggy and hard to set up. It's not recommended, especially if you're new to networking.

Thanks for the info. How do people make like 10gbps NAS?

[Gin N Rum 5454]

What's the point in some network cards having extra ports?

[johnno23]

1 minute ago, Gin N Rum 5454 said:

What's the point in some network cards having extra ports?

it can send info at 1gbit speeds to four work station for example if they are networked

and to answer the other question  they're genreally using 10gbps cards if they do not have onboard 10gig netwr\ork adapters

 

 

[Lurick]

Just now, Gin N Rum 5454 said:

What's the point in some network cards having extra ports?

redundancy or LACP (teaming) to provide line speeds to multiple clients.

[Gin N Rum 5454]

Just now, johnno23 said:

genraly using 10gbps cards if they do not have onboard 10gig netwr\ork adapters

Ah okay, cause I see that most average motherboards have around 2.5gbps, but I can never find any higher than 2.5gbps cards when searching on amazon or pcpartpicker. I assume they do exist.

[YoungBlade]

6 minutes ago, Gin N Rum 5454 said:

Thanks for the info. How do people make like 10gbps NAS?

Using a 10Gbps card/port.

5 minutes ago, Gin N Rum 5454 said:

What's the point in some network cards having extra ports?

There are lots of potential uses. One is if you wanted to have the computer be your router using software like pfsense. Another is if you want your computer to connect to several different networks - perhaps because you're using your computer as a firewall. Maybe you want to monitor all the traffic that's going between several networks by having all data pass through that computer to move between them.

 

Those aren't typically things your average consumer will do, but they are certainly done in businesses and by some enthusiasts.

[johnno23]

https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-TX401-Ethernet-Supports-Including/dp/B08D71PVXG simply random 1st result on google for me

[AbydosOne]

3 minutes ago, Gin N Rum 5454 said:

Ah okay, cause I see that most average motherboards have around 2.5gbps, but I can never find any higher than 2.5gbps cards when searching on amazon or pcpartpicker. I assume they do exist.

The next practical step up would be 10G, which until fairly recently was mainly cast-off enterprise stuff (all over eBay). Aquantia/Marvell controllers were some of the first consumer 10G chips a few years ago.

[mariushm]

There's 10gbps cards, there's 40gbps cards, there's 100 gbps cards, there's  25 gbps cards.

 

10g rj45 : https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-TX401-Ethernet-Supports-Including/dp/B08D71PVXG/

 

10g/25g SFP28 : https://www.fs.com/de-en/products/119650.html

 

40g qsfp+  : https://unixsurplus.com/mellanox-cx353a--adapter/

 

100g / 4 x 25g / 4 x 10g SFP28 : https://www.fs.com/de-en/products/119648.html?attribute=29710&id=561507

 

 

Some switches support port trunking / LACP  - for example you have two switches with 24 x 1 gbps ports (or more), you could make a connection betwen the two switches using 4 cables and configure in the switch that those 4 ports work together, so between those two switches there's a 4 gbps connection.

 

With cards that have 2 or more ports, you could have one cable going directly to a NAS machine or some server for a dedicated direct connection ,and the 2nd port can be connected to the switch.

 

[Blue4130]

6 hours ago, mariushm said:

There's 10gbps cards, there's 40gbps cards, there's 100 gbps cards, there's  25 gbps cards.

 

10g rj45 : https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-TX401-Ethernet-Supports-Including/dp/B08D71PVXG/

 

10g/25g SFP28 : https://www.fs.com/de-en/products/119650.html

 

40g qsfp+  : https://unixsurplus.com/mellanox-cx353a--adapter/

 

100g / 4 x 25g / 4 x 10g SFP28 : https://www.fs.com/de-en/products/119648.html?attribute=29710&id=561507

 

 

 

Don't forget the 400g mellanox cards.