[Samba] Samba and Multiple NICs

[L. Mark Stone]

On Mon, 2004-04-05 at 09:24, Alexander Sbitnev wrote:
> Hello AndyLiebman,
> 
> Monday, April 5, 2004, 5:23:43 AM, you wrote:
> 
> Aac> Hi, 
> 
> Aac> I'm a happy Samba user. I've been working sucessfully in Linux for the past 6
> Aac> months. I've built a Linux Server with very fast storage and I'm connecting
> Aac> it to many Windows XP "video editing workstations" via Gigabit Ethernet (all
> Aac> NICs using Jumbo Frames, by the way). 
> 
> Aac> Now I want to see if I can increase my data flow in and out of the Server so
> Aac> that more workstations to connect to it simultaneously. I'm pretty much maxing
> Aac> out on the amount of data that can flow through a single Gigabit Ethernet
> Aac> connection (from the Server to a single Gigabit Switch). So I'm wondering what's
> Aac> involved in adding a second NIC to my Server and dividing my workstations into
> Aac> two groups. 
<snip>
> 
> Can't explain my solution in detail but i will try to give you right
> direction. First of all take a look at the Advanced linux routing
> howto. We did things similiar to your request but with two
> FastEthernet interfaces. First of all we just install two interface
> cards and give to it ips within the same network. 10.10.10.40 and
> 10.10.10.41 for example (both mask 255.0.0.0). Next we setup a routing like
> that
<snip>

If your NICs and your switch supports it, "teaming" is a more elegant
and efficient approach and won't require you to reconfigure your network
settings.

In a "teaming" environment, the NIC drivers support bundling several
individual NICs together so that they appear as one NIC to the operating
system.  This is much like a RAID controller "teams" several physical
hard drives together to appear as one drive to the operating system.

We do this a lot with name-brand file servers (Compaq, HP, etc.). Load
balancing and other neat features are handled by the driver
automatically, with nothing to configure manually in the operating
system.

On the switch end, you do need a managed switch so you can "team"
multiple ports together as one port. Again, the switch will handle load
balancing, routing, etc.

Compaq provides drivers that support SuSE; the switch end obviously
doesn't care what operating system you are running. But, there are
several standards, and you want to make sure that your NICs and your
switch support the same standard! (Most better-quality hardware support
multiple standards, so this isn't a big deal except if you have low-end
hardware.)

I hope this is helpful; if your hardware supports this, it will be a lot
less work to configure.  Possibly the average throughputs will be higher
too.

Mark

-- 
_____________________________________________________________
A Message From  L. Mark Stone

President
Reliable Networks of Maine, LLC
477 Congress Street, 5th Floor
Portland, ME 04107

Tel: (207) 772-5678
Web: http://www.rnome.com