10Gbps Network/Server Upgrade

[Mulawin Galang]

Hi All!

 

We've been running our Windows Server 2012 for almost 8 months now and we've been very happy with it based on my build here: 

But due to the demand of shooting and editing 4K content, we need to upgrade our server's LAN and our switches as well. Budget is a concern so we will slowly upgrade all our servers/workstations slowly. Can you guys see if my plan makes sense?

 

So basically, the first is to replace our server's network card with an Intel X540T1 10GB LAN Card - http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Ethernet-Converged-Network-X540T1/dp/B008NJPL7C/ref=pd_bxgy_147_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=1M7FA7CB5KV7EH8K6KQD

 

Then I will buy a switch that has 10Gbps and multiple 1Gbps - http://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-ProSAFE-S3300-28X-Stackable-GS728TX-100NES/dp/B00OZCFVVC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1454598222&sr=8-1&keywords=GS728TXS

 

Now my question is - since the server will have a pure 10Gbps connection to the switch, will the switch be able to divide traffic to other clients (1Gbps) effectively? My server is currently running at 6Gbps Link Aggregation right now but as with my last post, the read speed is perfect for each client who is reading from the server simultaneously. But when I write to the server, the traffic gets divided into just 1 1Gbps link.  this is workable at the moment since only one PC ingests files to the server for others to work on.

 

In the future, I plan to replace again the server's card with a 2 port 10Gbps LAN Card so I can have a total of 20Gbps of bandwidth on my server and then use the old 1port 10Gbps LAN card for our mothership (our super pc that does grading and etc).

Lemme know your thoughts!

 

[Mulawin Galang]

By the way here's our production company's server setup:

 

ASRock Intel Avoton C2750 2.4GHz/DDR3/SATA3/V&2GbE/Mini-ITX Motherboard and CPU Combo C2750D4I 

(has 12 Sata Ports!)

Intel 4 x 1GB NIC
1 x Sandisk 120GB SSD - for System/OS
4 x WD Red 4TB (Hot-swap bay) - for files

4 x WD Red 4TB (via an eSATA Enclosure on just 1 SATA port @ JBOD Mode) - duplicate of files
3 x WD Green 3TB (old files, weapons, cloud sync - dropbox/onedrive/google drive etc.)

2 x WD RE 1TB as scratch disk or media cache

 

The files backup to the esata enclosure via a program called Bvckup.  

 

I did not use raid because once the server is down/fails, I can easily just pull out the 4 bay enclosure, plug it in a PC via USB3/esata and go back to work!

 

[leadeater]

4 hours ago, Mulawin Galang said:

My server is currently running at 6Gbps Link Aggregation right now but as with my last post, the read speed is perfect for each client who is reading from the server simultaneously. But when I write to the server, the traffic gets divided into just 1 1Gbps link.

This should not be happening on a correctly functioning Link Aggregation. Both the inbound and outbound traffic should be distributed between the multiple available links since the source and destination IP/MAC hash pair is different. Can you let us know what the teaming mode options are configured as? Switch Independent, Address Hash, None?

[leadeater]

If you upgrade to Server 2012 R2 and change the NIC team setting to Switch Dependent, Dynamic you will get proper inbound and outbound load distribution. You can still do it with the current Server 2012, again change to Switch Dependent, Address Hash, but switch dependent requires the switch to support link aggregation/port trunking statically or LACP.

 

Changing to switch dependent even with the 10Gb upgrade is still a good idea for future growth and will help when the mentioned workstation gets upgraded to 10Gb. Btw I use the Intel X540-T1 cards and they work extremely well and are properly supported in ESXi which was the biggest reason for me going with Intel.

[Mulawin Galang]

On 2/4/2016 at 4:20 AM, leadeater said:

If you upgrade to Server 2012 R2 and change the NIC team setting to Switch Dependent, Dynamic you will get proper inbound and outbound load distribution. You can still do it with the current Server 2012, again change to Switch Dependent, Address Hash, but switch dependent requires the switch to support link aggregation/port trunking statically or LACP.

 

Changing to switch dependent even with the 10Gb upgrade is still a good idea for future growth and will help when the mentioned workstation gets upgraded to 10Gb. Btw I use the Intel X540-T1 cards and they work extremely well and are properly supported in ESXi which was the biggest reason for me going with Intel.

Hi Leadeater! Thanks for your reply!

 

I'm currently using Static Teaming, Address Hash on my Windows Server. I'm trying to look for the Switch Dependent / Dynamic option but all I see are the following:

 

Option 1:

 

Teaming Mode: Static Teaming

Load Balancing Mode: Address Hash or Hyper V Port

 

Option 2:

Teaming Mode: Switch Independent

Load Balancing Mode: Address Hash or Hyper V Port

 

Option 3:

Teaming Mode: LACP

Load Balancing Mode: Address Hash or Hyper V Port

 

I believe my Switch Supports link aggregation: http://www.netgear.com/business/products/switches/unmanaged-plus/JGS524Ev2.aspx

 

What setting should I use? I've also made a LAG group already for Link Aggregation.

[leadeater]

16 hours ago, Mulawin Galang said:

Hi Leadeater! Thanks for your reply!

 

I'm currently using Static Teaming, Address Hash on my Windows Server. I'm trying to look for the Switch Dependent / Dynamic option but all I see are the following:

 

Option 1:

 

Teaming Mode: Static Teaming

Load Balancing Mode: Address Hash or Hyper V Port

 

Option 2:

Teaming Mode: Switch Independent

Load Balancing Mode: Address Hash or Hyper V Port

 

Option 3:

Teaming Mode: LACP

Load Balancing Mode: Address Hash or Hyper V Port

 

I believe my Switch Supports link aggregation: http://www.netgear.com/business/products/switches/unmanaged-plus/JGS524Ev2.aspx

 

What setting should I use? I've also made a LAG group already for Link Aggregation.

Dynamic is only available in server 2012 R2, it does work a bit better so you can consider an upgrade at some point. Not a requirement.

 

Static Teaming or LACP are the ones you want to use. To get proper inbound load balancing the switch needs the ports teamed correctly and if possible using IP hash, MAC hash should still work as long as the traffic is coming from separate NICs. IP hash also handles traffic crossing multiple switch links better too, the best method being IP and Port (UDP/TCP) hash but few ($$$) switches support this method and in 2012 R2 the new Dynamic mode supports it too.

 

Looking at your switch documentation yes it does support link aggregation.

 

Quote

Link Aggregation (LAG) (available on models with 16 ports or more)