Dual NICs, GigE file transfers

[Slug]

I have 2 XP machines, one XP pro and the other XP 64 bit. Both have static internal IPs connected to my router for filesharing and internet and everything runs fine. Both have 2 NICs in them. Large file transfers between the 2 machines are quite slow at 100mb/s. I would like to directly connect the other two 1000mb/s ports via a crossover cable, but ONLY for file sharing. How do I do this whilst keeping all other network traffic on the 100mb/s connections?

I'm sure this has been answered before, but I am unable to find the thread with the search tool.

Thanks in advance.

 

[RebateMonger]

A similar posting that I answered on another "Help Forum". Not exactly the same problem, but similar.....

Q: I have 2 PCs I need to connect using a gigabit segment. One has 2 gigabit NICs (one connected to a wireless router, the other connected to the second PC using a crossover cable), the other has a gigabit NIC and a USB wireless adapter. They are already connected through the wireless network. I am not sure how I would add the gigabit segment to this network, so that the second PC can pull files off the first PC through the gigbit segment, but connect to the Internet through the wireless segment.
How should I assign IP addresses?
Any ideas?

A: How about this?

Let the Wireless Router the Default Gateway for the first Gigabit NIC on the first PC.
Let the Wireless Router automatically assign an IP address, subnet mask, DNS server, and Default Gteway to that NIC.

Let the Wireless Router the Default Gateway for the wireless NIC on the second PC.
Let the Wireless Router automatically assign an IP address, subnet mask, and DNS server, and Default Gateway to that NIC.

Assign a pair of static IP addresses and subnet masks (i.e. 10.0.100.1 and 10.0.100.2, both with subnet mask 255.255.255.0) to the two Gigabit NICs that are connected via crossover cable. Enter nothing for the DNS server and enter nothing for the Default Gateway for these two connected NICs. You can have only one Default Gateway for a PC. And you won't need DNS services for contacting the other PC located on the same subnet.

This will make the wireless router the Default Gateway for both PCs. This will be necessary when trying to contact "foreign" IP addresses (i.e. Internet addresses). So both PCs will use the wireless router when trying to find Internet addresses.

On the other hand, when trying to find addresses on your Gigabit network, the two PCs will use NetBIOS for name resolution and, since the IP addresses of the other PC is on the same subnet, should have no problem contacting the other PC via the Gigabit NIC.

Note that, upon first connection, it might take a while for the NetBIOS function to get the names of the two PCs. So you might not be able to browse the other PC for a few minutes. You should be able to immediately browse it using its IP address (i.e. \\10.0.100.1).


Q: Thanks a million! Awesome post.
It finally worked, I can now browse files over the gigabit connection.
Now the only problem is how I can make sure that Internet traffic gets sent over the wireless, and local traffic over the gigabit connection.

A:In this case, it should be automatic. The setting for the Default Gateway should ensure this.

Say, for instance, you request a connection to 40.28.44.233 (an Internet address). Since your PC doesn't know how to reach this address, it will send the request to the Default Gateway, which is the Wireless Router that is connected to the Internet.

On the other hand, a request to 10.0.100.x will be considered part of the local network and will go out on the local (Gigabit) interface. There's no way that your PC would send a request to 40.28.44.233 (an Internet address) over the 10.0.100.x interface, since there's guarantee of a router there to route the request beyond the 10.0.100.x subnet.

 

[JackMDS]

May be this can Help, Setting a Home/SOHO Giga network., look at option 2.

:sun:

 

[Slug]

Thanks for the replies. I have things setup correctly I believe. Internet traffic on 100 mbs cards, connected through switch that is uplinked to router on 1st floor (I know this is suboptimal, but it is my only option). GigE with jumbo frames via direct connect.

Internal IPs of 100 mbs are 192.168.1.X with subnet 255.255.255.0, with gateway and DNS set.

Internal IPs of GigE are 10.0.100.x with subnet 255.0.0.0. No gateway or DNS set. NetBIOS enabled over TCP/IP.

Problem--When using Network Places to transfer files between machines via shared folders, the sending computer seems to use the 100mbs link by default unless I disable it first. How can I prevent this?

Thanks again. This is a great learning experience for me.

 

[SnoMunke]

I have heard it takes a dedicated 2Ghz processor to push gigabit to its full potential...

 

[Slug]

Maybe so, but the transfers are clearly using the wrong NIC.
One of the computers is a dual prestonia core Xeon @ 2.8GHz each with 2.5GB of ram, and the other is an Athlon64 3500+ with 2 GB of ram. Shouldn't be a CPU issue.

BTW SnoMunke, where are you gettin' that high speed DSL?

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: SlugInternal IPs of 100 mbs are 192.168.1.X with subnet 255.255.255.0, with gateway and DNS set.

Internal IPs of GigE are 10.0.100.x with subnet 255.255.255.0. No gateway or DNS set. NetBIOS enabled over TCP/IP.

Problem--When using Network Places to transfer files between machines via shared folders, the sending computer seems to use the 100mbs link by default unless I disableit first. How can I prevent this?

To the best of my knowledge, the PCs will try to send any traffic to a 10.0.100.x address across the interface that is set to that same subnet. There's no reason that XP would try to send data across a different interface that is on a different subnet when there's a local NIC that's on the same subnet that you are sending data to.

All I can suggest is to have XP show the little "network" icons on the task bar and see which one is doing the transfer. Or, disconnect one at a time and measure the transfer rate with each disabled and compare them.

Hopefully, I'm not missing something here. If so, sorry.....

 

[Slug]

I have enabled the network icons, and they show the 100mbs links doing the transfers. When I disable the 100mbs links, the transfers are markedly faster and clearly use the GigE NICs. I'm stumped.

The problem may be that both of the 100 mbs NICs also share a subnet, although it is different than the GigE subnet. I don't know how to get around this.

Also, File and Printer sharing is enabled on both NICs as I have a network printer upstairs to which I like to print, only accessible through the switch.

 

[SnoMunke]

Originally posted by: Slug
Maybe so, but the transfers are clearly using the wrong NIC.
One of the computers is a dual prestonia core Xeon @ 2.8GHz each with 2.5GB of ram, and the other is an Athlon64 3500+ with 2 GB of ram. Shouldn't be a CPU issue.

BTW SnoMunke, where are you gettin' that high speed DSL?

Japan...57Mbit is what they advertise...30Mbit down, 27Mbit up...the best I have ever gotten down though is 8Mbit actual...that was hitting an in-country server. I have hit over 1Mbit back to the US... My friend in Korea in getting 98Mbit actual down (in country)...he's has fiber directly to a datacenter connected to the Korea backbone. By the way, I pay $25 per month...he pays $23...

Hate me yet?

Did you know that 80% of people in Japan and Korea have this kind of broadband service already in their house?????

Japan is tech heaven.

 

[RebateMonger]

I think I know what the problem could be. If you are using the NetBIOS names to designate the target (as Windows Explorer does), then BOTH NICS on a compuer are going to show up with the same NetBIOS names. So, if you send data to \\Computer2 (and Windows Explorer doubtless uses NetBIOS in this case), that could end up going over EITHER network. The same computer name exists on both subnets (192.xxx.xxx.xx and 10.xxx.xxx.xxx).

There's an ordering option in the Advanced Properties of the Network Connections control panel. Maybe this will work for you. I can't see this Panel right now...I'm TRYING to run this PC with limited user rights...kinda' sucks.... Take a look at the Advanced Network Properties options to see if that helps.

I'm guessing here, frankly. I have never played with this. I usually use the IP addresses for communication between NICs in a situation like this. IP addresses would give you what your want.

For instance, if you opened up network shares by browsing \\10.0.100.xxx, then, I assume, the transfer would have to go over the 10.0.100.xxx NIC.

I'm wondering if disabling NetBIOS across the slow (100Mbps) NIC would help. In that case, the slower NIC won't know the NetBIOS name of the (slow) NIC on the second PC. So any names revealed by Windows Explorer would have to be coming from the fast connection. Presumably, data transfer would then be sent across the fast connection. You wouldn't need NetBIOS for resolving Internet names. Those would be resolved by DNS anyway.

You can see the routing table of your PC by typing "Route Print" in the DOS window. The routing table will show which interfaces have the highest priorities for various destinations.

 

[Slug]

I think disabling NetBIOS on the slower NICs may have done it. I'll keep testing.

Thanks!


UPDATE: I can no longer print to my printserver on the 192.168.1.X network.

UPDATE 2: Re-enabled NetBIOS on slow NICs, changed priority under advanced settings as suggested. Works on one machine and not the other.

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: Slug
UPDATE: I can no longer print to my printserver on the 192.168.1.X network.

UPDATE 2: Re-enabled NetBIOS on slow NICs, changed priority under advanced settings as suggested. Works on one machine and not the other.

Yeah, I figured you'd lose your printserver on the 192.xxx.xxx.xxx subnet when you disabled NetBIOS on that subnet. I didn't notice that part about you having a printserver on that subnet, but noticed it after my last reply.

You could keep NetBIOS DISABLED and use an LMHOSTS file to replace NetBIOS. Basically, you'd need only one entry: the Name and IP address of your PrintServer.

Here's a UseNet post that discusses the same issues and solutions. Be sure to flush your DNS cache on both machines, by the way. This is probably why the UseNet poster had problems with one of the computers until rebooting.

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: SnoMunke

Originally posted by: Slug
Maybe so, but the transfers are clearly using the wrong NIC.
One of the computers is a dual prestonia core Xeon @ 2.8GHz each with 2.5GB of ram, and the other is an Athlon64 3500+ with 2 GB of ram. Shouldn't be a CPU issue.

BTW SnoMunke, where are you gettin' that high speed DSL?

Japan...57Mbit is what they advertise...30Mbit down, 27Mbit up...the best I have ever gotten down though is 8Mbit actual...that was hitting an in-country server. I have hit over 1Mbit back to the US... My friend in Korea in getting 98Mbit actual down (in country)...he's has fiber directly to a datacenter connected to the Korea backbone. By the way, I pay $25 per month...he pays $23...

Hate me yet?

Did you know that 80% of people in Japan and Korea have this kind of broadband service already in their house?????

Japan is tech heaven.

holy ******* chr***...that is un*******believable

 

[nweaver]

Ok, this is an easy one...start filesharing using IP based UNC paths, instead of computer names...

i.e. gig network is 10.0.0.X (1 for pc1, 2 for pc2). So on PC1 you would type \\10.0.0.2\sharename and use that

 

[Slug]

Thanks everyone! I think I've got it working!

RebateMonger--That UseNet post was outstanding and seems to have fixed the problem.

Last Question: My computers are 5 ft apart. Any reason to use cat 6 cable for the GigE connection rather than store-bought snagless cat 5e over this short distance?

 

[nweaver]

Originally posted by: Slug
Thanks everyone! I think I've got it working!

RebateMonger--That UseNet post was outstanding and seems to have fixed the problem.

Last Question: My computers are 5 ft apart. Any reason to use cat 6 cable for the GigE connection rather than store-bought snagless cat 5e over this short distance?

If you are buying? I would go 6 (as long as the cost is close)

if you already own the 5e, then I would just do the 5e