Can connect to NIC without cable plugged in! WTH!?!?

[tuprox]

-Ok Server - Linux - 4 Nics - 2 onboard 2on a PCI-E card
-Onboard NIC's (eth2/eth3 - Dynamic/Static IP's)
-One cable from eth2 -> switch
-I connect from workstation to the IP addresses assigned to eth2 & eth3 (192.168.1.2 & 192.168.1.117 respectively)

How can I connect to both of these NIC's (eth2 & eth3) with only one cable connected to it? Should I get an error when trying to connect to one of these since there is only one cable plugged in?

-I underlined the IP addresses with a red line
-I underlined the HWaddr (same on both sessions) which identifies the unique MAC address

So what I did was connect from my desktop using Putty. 1 session went to network interface eth2 - IP address 192.168.1.2 and another session to eth3 - IP address 192.168.1.117
-The thing that is strange is that one of these connections is not plugged into a switch! There is nothing plugged into it at all. I'm not sure which interface I'm plugged into eth2 or eth3 as I was trying to identify which interface was which by unpluggin one of them and seeing which interface I could no longer connect to. Does that make sense - what I was doing?

Now does it make sense that I can connect to both?

 

[Nothinman]

I can't remember the specifics about why it works like that, but it's because both are on the same subnet. If you put the one without a cable attached on a separate subnet you won't be able to get to it.

 

[alkemyst]

If these are both NICs in the same PC your PC can act as a switch/router plus should be able to give you access to anything directly connected.

 

[Nothinman]

If these are both NICs in the same PC your PC can act as a switch/router plus should be able to give you access to anything directly connected.

He specifically said that both NICs on the server weren't plugged into anything. The main thing is that you're not supposed to have 2 NICs on the same subnet and doing that generally doesn't produce the results you want or expect. If you want more bandwidth then setup an etherchannel and bond the interfaces, if you want multiple IPs then use secondary IPs on one interface.

 

[alkemyst]

The reason why he sees them when not plugged into anything is they are 'plugged' in the server.

 

[Nothinman]

The reason why he sees them when not plugged into anything is they are 'plugged' in the server.

It doesn't matter what they're plugged into as long as there is a link, they'll show as up.

 

[alkemyst]

It doesn't matter what they're plugged into as long as there is a link, they'll show as up.

I was only answering his question on why he could still connect to both of them.

 

[Nothinman]

I was only answering his question on why he could still connect to both of them.

But he says only 1 cable is plugged in at at time, so I'm confused as to the point you're trying to make.

 

[alkemyst]

forget it.