10Mbit PCI-Card still enough?

[imported_ceefka]

Our network:
A Belking 100Mb router + Wireless Accespoint
Acer 1500 laptop with 54g wireless / 1Gb wired onboard.
Dell XPS700 with a 10Mb PCI Network Card.
Selfbuilt DAW with 1Gb network port onboard.
Our service is at 8Mb download /1Mb upload.

I'd like to have the Dell as my file server. I want to be able to play mp3/wma and mpeg from the Dell. Copying files from the Dell to any of the other PCs is slow. Would I gain something from replacing the network card with a 10/100Mb? Or could it be that the ATA33 spec on the P3 is the killler?

 

[nweaver]

it would speed up transfers to the wired computers, it probably wouldn't do much for transfering over wireless

 

[harrkev]

Having a file server on a 10Mb link is an exercise in frustration. It will also enhance your vocabulary (especially four-letter words). Unless the files that you want to share are small, go for a 100Mb link.

Check out this:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00003006R/002-1114863-3981667?n=172282

At that price, you can't afford to NOT go 100Mb!

 

[soccerballtux]

Definitely. Even on wireless you'll notice a speed increase up to 2.5x.

 

[Madwand1]

I don't get it. The XPS 700 I see specs for online is a high-end PC, with built-in gigabit. Why would it have an add-on 10 Mb/s card?

Since you have gigabit capability elsewhere, even if the "XPS 700" is an old box with limited performance, I'd personally get an inexpensive gigabit switch and an add-on gigabit card and give it a go.

 

[imported_ceefka]

OK guys, I will buy a 10/100Mb card. This looks like the sensible thing to do.

Madwand 1. Perhaps I should have clarified. The XPS700 is a Pentium III 700MHz box from 1999. The 10Mb connector it has now, is an add-on card that came with our broadband service. Getting a 1Gb switch will make it much more expensive because 1Gb requires CAT6e cabling. That's not very fortunate when you have CAT5e installed already. I thought I do the Gb thing once the broadband service exceeds 100Mb. I know for a fact they have succesfully experimented with 400Mb.

 

[JackMDS]

Originally posted by: ceefka
Getting a 1Gb switch will make it much more expensive because 1Gb requires CAT6e cabling. That's not very fortunate when you have CAT5e installed already.

Hmm. Not so. Current Giga works with CAT5e.

:sun:

 

[imported_ceefka]

Originally posted by: JackMDS

Hmm. Not so. Current Giga works with CAT5e.

:sun:

[/quote]

I could've sworn I read somewhere that it didn't. This puts it in a different light. I'll reconsider my options here.:music:

 

[spikespiegal]

Or could it be that the ATA33 spec on the P3 is the killler?

Both. A 10meg NIC incurs a lot of overhead because they do such inefficient processing, sp upgrading should smooth things out a but. However, gig ethernet is worthless on that box because you won't be able to saturate a 100meg card.

If you're running Windows, order a 3Com 3c980 off the internet for about $25. Older card, but it's designed as a fault tolerant server card, the drivers are already installed in Windows, and hardware wise it's a better card that 99% of the crap you find at Best Buy.

 

[Madwand1]

Originally posted by: ceefka
This puts it in a different light. I'll reconsider my options here.:music:

One option is something like a D-Link DGS-1005D (5-port gigabit switch with jumbo frame support) for around $35 USD, and an Intel Pro 1000 MT (PCI gigabit card) for around $21 USD.

The 1999 computer's performance and HD's will probably hold you back somewhat, but if you compare that say $21 vs. a $10 ethernet card, it's not such a big difference for even a slight improvement. You should also get an improvement among your other computers which have gigabit for internal LAN transfers; of course Internet speeds won't be affected by this for a long while.

There are other PCI gigabit cards for even less. I've measured a couple and reported my results in this forum elsewhere. To spare you the cruelty of searching my old posts:

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=36&threadid=1840646&enterthread=y

The Intel's surely better, but if it's not available, etc., you should note that at lower speeds, you don't lose much with one gigabit card vs., another, and other cards are viable.

Unfortunately, I don't have measurements for gigabit on a 700 MHz computer, but I could make some if wanted (on a 650 MHz Duron -- I'd have to drop in a gigE card, and perhaps a faster HD).

 

[Madwand1]

Originally posted by: Madwand1
I don't have measurements for gigabit on a 700 MHz computer, but I could make some if wanted (on a 650 MHz Duron -- I'd have to drop in a gigE card, and perhaps a faster HD).

I added a SysKonnect / Marvell PCI card, and had to upgrade the HD, because the existing one wasn't big enough to hold my test file (it was 4.5 GB).

(Actually, I measured that anyways using smaller files, and it came in around 10 MB/s, but that's the drive's performance, and not exactly representative of HD's these days.)

My "upgrade" HD was a 18 GB (woo hoo!) that peaks around 20 MB/s. I measured around 16-18 MB/s average transfer rate, with peaks of up to around 25-30 MB/s where I'm sure it was transferring to/from the RAM, and not the HD.

The system's definitely limited by the HD speed at this point. I tried to install a faster HD, but for some reason, the MB+OS wouldn't synch to a good DMA mode, and the resultant PIO mode was no upgrade in HD speed.

Raw network bandwidth was much higher, but I think it'd be very misleading to report those numbers, because these systems are strongly HD-limited, so I won't.

Bottom line -- these old systems definitely benefit from gigE, significantly compared to 100 Mb/s ethernet (and hence a ton compared to 10 Mb/s), but in a manner significantly limited by the max HD speed achievable on these systems.

 

[imported_ceefka]

Originally posted by: Madwand1
One option is something like a D-Link DGS-1005D (5-port gigabit switch with jumbo frame support) for around $35 USD, and an Intel Pro 1000 MT (PCI gigabit card) for around $21 USD.

OK, I can see that the Gb option would bring some extra benefits. The shop where I usually go, has these, for 85 Euros total:Q. I am having trouble justifying this, not only with the old lady. I'm looking for a cheap solution here, since 100Mb cards cost next to nothing these days.

Since I have no idea how long this Dell PC will stay with us, I'm a little reluctant to invest 85 Euros in it. In fact I almost gave up on it a couple of times earlier. It might not be perfect, but I'll settle for a cheap ass 100Mb card now (8,95 Euro). Any new file server or network drive will feature a Gb NIC anyway. By then it is only logical to have a Gb switch too.

As for 4 letter words: Hell yeah, the 10Mb NIC is annoying. I'll be happy to replace it.

Thank you all for your time.

 

[Missing Ghost]

I got a few server gigabit nics from ebay for like 5$ each; all of them have 64 bit pic, tcp/ip offload, jumbo frames, management, etc. So you could try ebay.

 

[Madwand1]

I see 4 on Newegg for $10 USD or less, and another handful at $13 or less, including a TrendNet that I've measured. There are certainly not server-class NIC's, but I've found that some such NIC's can give just-fine performance at the low end, which is what you have when you have single-drive setups (and/or current consumer NAS boxes).

I have not found these NIC's as inexpensively or as easy to locate in retail stores -- I guess those stores have a bit of catching up to do.

Perhaps other interested readers might consider these alternatives useful to know.

I don't mean to push the OP; there is a switch to consider as well, and we can respect his own decision as-is, and sticking with 10/100 is the simpler option.