LACP Networking, and sever hardware help

[TheDev]

i have a couple of questions before i go and spend a bit of money to get a fast network setup in my house

 

so i want my network to be super fast just like anyone but can't afford 10Gb/s sfp+ and all the networking cards that go with it but i found out about link aggregation or LACP but i head a couple things that might stop me from doing it.

 

the network consists of my NAS, media sever and a network File backup (they are all on 1 machine running freenas) and my pc 

 

the main reason im upgrading is the sever, because i use my pc to transferrer flies it to at about 100MB/s, but when im transferring my steam library is takes its sweet ass time. so im looking to add 2 more gigabit ports to my Server to have 4, Gb/s Ethernet ports to have about 400MB/s now my questions 

 

Q1: does windows 10 support LACP, i have head it doesn't.

 

Q2: if win10 supports LACP, can you use a USB 3.0 Ethernet adapter to add in to the LACP 

 

Q3: wolud a PCIE nvme SSD be any use as a cache drive for the server (i know reads won't improve but writing should be faster?) 

[Sunshine1868]

You need very specialized hardware for this (PCIe NICs...usb adapters won't do the job) as well as a rather expensive managed switch that allow for LACP. and that is even if WINX supports LACP

[TheDev]

i did't think usb adapters would work but i wasn't shore, but i thought that a pcie NIC would work, i seen people with 4 port cards with LACP configerd. im probably missing someing tho, im pretty new to all this networking stuff.

 

also i have already found the switch im after, it says it supports Link aggregation 

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00CUG8ESM?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_2&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

[Sunshine1868]

i did't think usb adapters would work but i wasn't shore, but i thought that a pcie NIC would work, i seen people with 4 port cards with LACP configerd. im probably missing someing tho, im pretty new to all this networking stuff.

 

also i have already found the switch im after, it says it supports Link aggregation 

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00CUG8ESM?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_2&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

 

Yeah, you need a special NIC. LACP is not an easily achievable thing...

 

that link is broken.... also, be sure (when shopping for a switch for this project) that it support LACP *SPECIFICALLY* and not something like failover/round robin. 

[TheDev]

Yeah, you need a special NIC. LACP is not an easily achievable thing...

 

that link is broken.... also, be sure (when shopping for a switch for this project) that it support LACP *SPECIFICALLY* and not something like failover/round robin. 

would this work? 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/StarTech-com-Express-Gigabit-Ethernet-Network/dp/B00AWP9MGG/ref=sr_1_20?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1451488618&sr=1-20&keywords=nic

[Sunshine1868]

Check the manual for this card and see if it is compatible with LACP.

[leadeater]

The short answer is that LACP/NIC Teaming will not give you better transfer speed between two computers. It only improves one-to-many connections not one-to-one bar specific tweaks and load balancing algorithms which not everything supports.

 

You will get a much better result by purchasing two 10Gb network cards and directly connecting them between the Server/NAS and your desktop. This is exactly what i have done using Intel X540-T1 network cards, these use standard RJ45 connectors and copper cable and the cost is not that bad. There are other cheaper cards on the market but I prefer to use Intel for ESXi compatibility. Also make sure you use Cat 6 (55m), Cat 6a (100m) or better, anything less wont cut it.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833106144&cm_re=Intel_X540-T1-_-33-106-144-_-Product

 

I can pretty much guarantee you that going down the LACP path for your setup will be a disappointment.

 

For completeness here's a video on how to setup teaming in Windows 10:

[braneopbru]

i have a couple of questions before i go and spend a bit of money to get a fast network setup in my house

 

so i want my network to be super fast just like anyone but can't afford 10Gb/s sfp+ and all the networking cards that go with it but i found out about link aggregation or LACP but i head a couple things that might stop me from doing it.

 

the network consists of my NAS, media sever and a network File backup (they are all on 1 machine running freenas) and my pc 

 

the main reason im upgrading is the sever, because i use my pc to transferrer flies it to at about 100MB/s, but when im transferring my steam library is takes its sweet ass time. so im looking to add 2 more gigabit ports to my Server to have 4, Gb/s Ethernet ports to have about 400MB/s now my questions 

 

Q1: does windows 10 support LACP, i have head it doesn't.

 

Q2: if win10 supports LACP, can you use a USB 3.0 Ethernet adapter to add in to the LACP 

 

Q3: wolud a PCIE nvme SSD be any use as a cache drive for the server (i know reads won't improve but writing should be faster?) 

 

 

You can get Chelsio 10Gb cards on ebay for $25 US, sometimes cheaper. Get two of those, two SFP+ transceivers from Fiberstore and a optical cable for $15 and you have a 10Gb point-to-point link for under $100.

[d33g33]

The short answer is that LACP/NIC Teaming will not give you better transfer speed between two computers. It only improves one-to-many connections not one-to-one bar specific tweaks and load balancing algorithms which not everything supports.

 

I can pretty much guarantee you that going down the LACP path for your setup will be a disappointment.

 

For completeness here's a video on how to setup teaming in Windows 10:

This man knows it.

 

LACP/Teaming probably wont see you with faster speeds DEPENDING on what you're doing.

 

Lets say you have 4gbit ports configured for LACP, from point A to point B you will still only have a 1gb link speed so will top out around the 100-130mb/s mark (network throughput wise anyway)

 

Where you will see an improvement is if you have lots of clients all hammering that same source that has the 4 NICs in it so in theory

 

Source (A) and then multiple clients eg B, C and D should all in theory be able to have and achieve (network wise anyway) 1gb speeds from A to B, A to C and A to D simultaneously...

 

If that makes sense...