Home networking question...2 nic's in one computer

[IBdaMac]

Lets say I have 2 ethernet cards and I want to hook my server up to the cable internet connection...
is it possible to have 2 nic's in your computer, one line going to the cable modem and the other going to the server and
use my computer as a router? Is there some sort of IRQ problem with having two nic's in one computer? Any advice would be
greatly appreciated.

 

[chizow]

Originally posted by: IBdaMac
Lets say I have 2 ethernet cards and I want to hook my server up to the cable internet connection...
is it possible to have 2 nic's in your computer, one line going to the cable modem and the other going to the server and
use my computer as a router? Is there some sort of IRQ problem with having two nic's in one computer? Any advice would be
greatly appreciated.

ICS, or internet connection sharing is a native feature of Win2k and WinXP. With Virtual IRQs, you shouldn't have any IRQ conflicts; that set-up you suggested is the reference model for ICS, should work fine.

Chiz

 

[cipher00]

You'll be better off with a router. Take a look here for some basic setup options.

 

[IBdaMac]

Originally posted by: cipher00
You'll be better off with a router. Take a look here for some basic setup options.

What benefit would there be to having a router? If there's only two computers I want to hook up to the same ip, is there
a performance loss without a router? Instead of buying a new 50 dollar router, is there anything wrong with hooking it up
this way?

 

[ahabeger]

With internet connection sharing you are making your computer a router, so if you have internet hooked to computer A that acts as a router, and you have computer B hooked to computer A you have to have computer A on when you want internet on compter B

if the computers are at opposite ends of the house you might want to go for the router, but generally ICS works fine

 

[ericboo]

But you will have to have your main computer on for the other to connect to the internet and you are also adding some background traffic. Definitely cheaper though and does work.

 

[Podolak]

I used to go this route, two nics one computer running some kind of proxy server software (usually sygate as now ICS back then). Always worked good for me except when the computer that was acting as the server went down. No conficts with having two network cards though so you should be all set. Infact we have a server here at work with three nics in it and still no problem.

 

[858diver]

When you can get a router for less than $10 such as this, why mess around with proxy servers or ICS?

 

[chizow]

Originally posted by: 858diver
When you can get a router for less than $10 such as this, why mess around with proxy servers or ICS?

Yep, cross-over cables typically cost more than routers nowadays

Chiz