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Sept 3, 2010, 12:45pm

Thecus User Group :: N5200/N5200PRO :: Installations :: Best network configuration

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Topic: Best network configuration (Read 674 times)

funcii
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Best network configuration
« Thread Started on Mar 15, 2009, 5:29pm »

Hi.

I'm using a N5200 Pro attached to a Mac Pro.

The Mac Pro has two network sockets.

Currently the Thecus is connected to a switch, and the Mac is connected to the same switch, and about 5 or 6 other things are all connected to the same subnet via a couple of other switches all connected to that switch.

It occurs to me that the Thecus performance might be better if I stick it direct into the second, currently unused, network port on the Mac, on its own new subnet, and leave the rest of the network traffic to the current subnet.

Despite my best efforts I can't figure out how to configure it all to do this.

The Mac is set up to get its IP address from my DSL router, in the range 192.168.1.*, so is everything else on the network.

The Thecus is hard-addressed with 192.168.1.100.

I figure if I give the Thecus the address 192.168.2.100, then that's a step in the right direction towards creating a second subnet and running the Thecus on that, and I can hard code the Mac's 2nd adapter to be 192.168.2.something, but how do I make the Mac's network cards talk to each other? Once we get into different subnets, I'm in over my head.

Thanks! Any pointers gratefully received.

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edgar
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Re: Best network configuration
« Reply #1 on Mar 15, 2009, 8:02pm »

Tell me what you want, I will tell you how to do without.

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edgar
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Re: Best network configuration
« Reply #2 on Mar 15, 2009, 8:23pm »

Hi.

It all depends on your switch speed.
If you have a 1 Gb (or more

), connect both (if possible, if not connect the N5200) to it.

If not, if you have 1 Gb on the Mac, connect it directly to the N5200 LAN port and set IP addresses accordingly (ie: Mac = 192.168.2.101). You could also enable N5200 DHCP on the LAN but it would be a pity to enable additional service on it for "only" 1 client (the Mac).

If you access the N5200 at 192.168.100 you will be limited to the speed of your switch.
If you access it at 192.168.2.100 you should get better performances ("SHOULD" because if you have GB switch you will not see any improvement).

Target configuration:
N5200 :
- WAN : 192.168.1.100 (default)
- LAN : 192.168.2.100 (default)
Mac :
- "Network socket" 1 : 192.168.1.what-ever-IP-you-have
- "Network socket" 2 : 192.168.2.what-ever-IP-you-choose-to-use

Hope this can help.
Ed

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funcii
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Re: Best network configuration
« Reply #3 on Mar 15, 2009, 9:55pm »

Hi Ed, thanks for that.

My switches are GB. I was hoping that by running the Thecus on the Mac's second network port, it would mean that the Mac could be talking to the Thecus at 1GB, and all the other network devices could be talking to the Mac (and each other) at 1GB as well... i.e. the Thecus does not have to share the 1GB with the rest of the network, so increasing performance of it, and the network as a whole. Not sure if conceptually that's right, or not.

I'll give it a go and let you know how I get on though.

Thanks again for your help.

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funcii
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Re: Best network configuration
« Reply #4 on Mar 15, 2009, 11:18pm »

I configured the 2nd Mac nework port to 192.168.0.101, the Thecus to 192.168.0.100, and left the LAN as it was (192.168.1.* subnet).

It works, I have reconnected the Thecus' iSCSI volume, and everything else seems to be working ok.

I'll see over the next few days if there's any kind of performance increase.

Thanks again for your help.

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frankgobbo
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Re: Best network configuration
« Reply #5 on Mar 18, 2009, 6:27pm »

Mar 15, 2009, 9:55pm, funcii wrote:

You're missing the point of a switch. Each PORT should run at 1Gbps, with the switch backplane capable of handling n*1Gbs (where n is the number of ports, so 8 ports = 8Gbps minimum backplane).

This means that if you're transferring from device A to device B, and device C (your Mac) to device D (the Thecus), all at the same time, A<->B + C<->D should run at 1Gbps each.

It's only if you're transferring from device A<->C<->D all at the same time (eg Mac to Thecus & Mac to device A) THEN you'll share the 1Gbps the Mac's switchport is capable of between the other 2 devices.

Unless you're pushing massive data across your network, you really shouldn't need to both physically AND logically segment your network like this.

Edit: Oh yeah, you're also seriously unlikely to pull much more than 40MB/s (~400Mbps) to your Thecus if you're running it in a RAID array. It just doesn't quite have the balls to beat that. It's not a limitation of the network, it's the hardware. Few consumer grade devices (which the Thecus still is) can pull those sorts of speeds, hence why proper Cisco switch gear & Sun servers etc cost so much.. they're built with performance in mind, not budget

Hope that helps
FG
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« Last Edit: Mar 18, 2009, 6:31pm by frankgobbo »

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