Question How to place my Asustor NAS between PC and switch

[MegaDamo]

Hiya,

i have the following kit...

1) Windows 10 PC with 10Gbe network card
2) Asustor Nimbuster AS5304T NAS with two 2.5Gbe Ethernet ports
3) A network switch with only 1Gbe Ethernet ports- connected to my router

The NAS is new.

If I connect the NAS to the switch, all is fine but then the PC will only be able to communicate at 1Gbe with the NAS.

So I tried connecting the PC to NAS port 1, and NAS port 2 to the switch. When I do so the PC can see the NAS but cannot see the world beyond the NAS, e.g. no internet etc.

I think I need to make my NAS perform as a virtual switch, but I don’t know how.

Any help would be gratefully received.

 

[sdifox]

add a different gigabit nic to your pc and connect that to the switch
unless you are willing to upgrade your switch to a 2.5/10gbE one

 

[MegaDamo]

add a different gigabit nic to your pc and connect that to the switch
unless you are willing to upgrade your switch to a 2.5/10gbE one

I see. Will I have to disconnect the NAS from the switch? And if so will I have to leave the PC on for other devices to see the NAS?

 

[sdifox]

I see. Will I have to disconnect the NAS from the switch? And if so will I have to leave the PC on for other devices to see the NAS?

No. Your nas will have one connection to switch and one to pc.

 

[MegaDamo]

No. Your nas will have one connection to switch and one to pc.

And that wouldn’t create some kind of weird circular connection, like the PC seeing the NAS twice- once directly and secondly via the switch?

 

[sdifox]

And that wouldn’t create some kind of weird circular connection, like the PC seeing the NAS twice- once directly and secondly via the switch?

setup static IPs on the direct PC-NAS ports so they are on their own subnet.

say your main network is on 192.168.10.xxx, setup the direct PC-NAS nics in 192.168.20.xxx

 

[MegaDamo]

OK thanks very much. I’ll give this a try tonight. I might have to do some research into static IP’s and subsets, never played with these settings before.

Cheers for the advice 👍

 

[sdifox]

OK thanks very much. I’ll give this a try tonight. I might have to do some research into static IP’s and subsets, never played with these settings before.

Cheers for the advice 👍

pretty easy to setup. the nas should have a web interface for you to setup static ip. Make sure change the right one

NAS should always be on static ip or reserved ip anyway.

 

[SamirD]

And the benefit of this layout is that your pc to the nas will have its own dedicated bandwidth. And the nas to the rest of the network will have its own dedicated bandwidth, and your pc will have its own dedicated bandwidth to the Internet and rest of the network.

 

[mxnerd]

Wonder if OP's motherboard supports multi-gig. If the NIC only supports 1G & 10G, Then the connection to NAS will be 1G only.

 

[sdifox]

Wonder if OP's motherboard supports multi-gig. If the NIC only supports 1G & 10G, Then the connection to NAS will be 1G only.

You mean 10gbE doesn't necessarily support 2.5gbE?

 

[mxnerd]

You mean 10gbE doesn't necessarily support 2.5gbE?

Do all 10GBaseT cards necessarily support multi-gig 10/5/2.5/1G speeds?

I don't have experience. My intuition tells me if the card only supports 10G/1G, then it will not operate at 2.5/5G, however, since it's a new standard.

This Intel 10G adapter's spec only mentions 10G and 1G, for example.

Intel® Ethernet Converged Network Adapter X540-T1 Product Specifications

Intel® Ethernet Converged Network Adapter X540-T1 quick reference guide including specifications, features, pricing, compatibility, design documentation, ordering codes, spec codes and more.

ark.intel.com

 

[sdifox]

Do all 10GBaseT cards necessarily support multi-gig 10/5/2.5/1G speeds?

I don't have experience. My intuition tells me if the card only supports 10G/1G, then it will not operate at 2.5/5G, however, since it's a new standard.

This Intel 10G adapter's spec only mentions 10G and 1G, for example.

Intel® Ethernet Converged Network Adapter X540-T1 Product Specifications

Intel® Ethernet Converged Network Adapter X540-T1 quick reference guide including specifications, features, pricing, compatibility, design documentation, ordering codes, spec codes and more.

ark.intel.com

I looked up that one and that is when I noticed it is just 1/10gb. That is annoying.

 

[mxnerd]

802.11an, 10GBASE-T(2006)

10 Gigabit Ethernet - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

802.11bz, NBASE-T(2016)

2.5GBASE-T and 5GBASE-T - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[thecoolnessrune]

As @mxnerd points out, these are "NBASE-T" is a much newer standard than 10GBASE-T, and there are lots of devices that don't support 802.11bz even though they can support 10GbE. The OP will need to ensure that the 10GbE device can support it, otherwise it will likely negotiate a 1Gb link.

 

[sdifox]

As @mxnerd points out, these are "NBASE-T" is a much newer standard than 10GBASE-T, and there are lots of devices that don't support 802.11bz even though they can support 10GbE. The OP will need to ensure that the 10GbE device can support it, otherwise it will likely negotiate a 1Gb link.

Then he should probably check the nic on the nas and get a compatible 2.5g one for his pc.

 

[SamirD]

You mean 10gbE doesn't necessarily support 2.5gbE?

Oh yeah, 2.5Gb is a much newer standard. I assumed the OP knew what they had and hence why they were trying to do what they were trying.

 

[VirtualLarry]

You mean 10gbE doesn't necessarily support 2.5gbE?

Ehh, no. 10GbE-T standard pre-dates "NBASE-T", which is the pre-dominant standard for 2.5/5 GbE-T these days. If your NIC or switch supports 2.5/5 GbE-T, in additional to 10GbE-T, it will often be labeled as "multi-gig".

Yes, there are stories, of people buying 2.5/5 GbE-T switches or cards (that are "NBASE-T", but not 10GbE-T), and 10GbE-T (Edit: That aren't also "NBASE-T" or "multi-gig") cards or switches, and the whole CF not communicating at higher than 1GbE-T. Sad, but true. Do your homework, folks!

 

[MegaDamo]

Network stuff isn’t my day job, and like many of us working Mums and Dads time is limited. As such I‘ve just not had chance to sort implement the suggested solution yet. Might have to wait until the weekend so I apologies in advance.

My new 10Gbe NIC is as follows...

ASUS XG-C100C PCI-E Network Interface Card

ASUS XG-C100C PCI-E Network Interface Card: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

Buy

www.amazon.co.uk

I believe this auto detects and is fine with 2.5 and 5.0 Gbe.

 

[sdifox]

Network stuff isn’t my day job, and like many of us working Mums and Dads time is limited. As such I‘ve just not had chance to sort implement the suggested solution yet. Might have to wait until the weekend so I apologies in advance.

My new 10Gbe NIC is as follows...

ASUS XG-C100C PCI-E Network Interface Card

ASUS XG-C100C PCI-E Network Interface Card: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

Buy

www.amazon.co.uk

I believe this auto detects and is fine with 2.5 and 5.0 Gbe.

Looks good.

 

[MegaDamo]

Looks good.

Well that’s good, thanks. It is unopened and from Amazon, so can be returned if you guys have better suggestions.

I presume the best solution would be a 10/5/2.5Gbe capable switch so I can link aggregate the NAS to the switch giving 5Gbe and then run 10Gbe to the PC (5Gbe NET speed). But that sounds like serious money, hence the NAS 2.5Gbe to PC directly.

As for your suggested solution, static IP’s and subnets are simply outside my vocabulary, so I have much to learn. I’m not a complete numpty, build my own PC’s and play my own part in designing aircraft, but networking has always been something IT chaps sort out for me, hence my dumb questions.

 

[sdifox]

Well that’s good, thanks. It is unopened and from Amazon, so can be returned if you guys have better suggestions.

I presume the best solution would be a 10/5/2.5Gbe capable switch so I can link aggregate the NAS to the switch giving 5Gbe and then run 10Gbe to the PC (5Gbe NET speed). But that sounds like serious money, hence the NAS 2.5Gbe to PC directly.

As for your suggested solution, static IP’s and subnets are simply outside my vocabulary, so I have much to learn. I’m not a complete numpty, build my own PC’s and play my own part in designing aircraft, but networking has always been something IT chaps sort out for me, hence my dumb questions.

Just google, pretty easy really.

If you are bored, you can read this.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/164015/understanding-tcp-ip-addressing-and-subnetting-basics

To do link aggregation you would need a switch that supports it. Your NAS does support it.

Networking: Link Aggregation - ASUSTOR NAS

An overview of link aggregation and how to set it up on your NAS.

www.asustor.com

 

[VirtualLarry]

My understanding, and I would love to be proven wrong, is that you can't just use LAGG to double two links to equal a faster-speed single link.

For example, a NAS with dual 1GbE-T NICs, plugged into a smart 2.5GbE-T/1GbE-T switch, and set as a LAGG group, and then another port connected at 2.5GbE-T to a PC over a 2.5GbE-T NIC.

My understanding is, that one will still be limited to 1GbE-T, for a single transfer stream, such as a backup task on PC.

 

[mxnerd]

If NAS supports SMB 3, and actually Windows 8.1 & up all support SMB 3, in theory you don't need to setup LAGG group which is only available in managed switches (not smart switches) , Windows will take advantage of the multi links automatically.

This Netgear managed pro 10-port switch looks like a very good one, and is actually cheap!

https://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-Multi-Gigabit-Ethernet-lifetime-technical/dp/B075Q6NPM2

Review for this particular model

Amazon.com: Customer reviews: NETGEAR 10-Port 10G Multi-Gigabit Smart Switch (MS510TX) - Managed, with 8 x Multi-gig, 1 x 10G, and 1 x 10G SFP+ ports, Desktop or Rackmount, and Limited Lifetime Protection

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for NETGEAR 10-Port 10G Multi-Gigabit Smart Switch (MS510TX) - Managed, with 8 x Multi-gig, 1 x 10G, and 1 x 10G SFP+ ports, Desktop or Rackmount, and Limited Lifetime Protection at Amazon.com. Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users.

www.amazon.com

Datasheet

https://www.netgear.com/images/datasheet/switches/MS510TX-MS510TXPP.pdf

 

[sdifox]

If NAS supports SMB 3, and actually Windows 8.1 & up all support SMB 3, in theory you don't need to setup LAGG group which is only available in managed switches (not smart switches) , Windows will take advantage of the multi links automatically.

This Netgear managed pro 10-port switch looks like a very good one, and is actually cheap!

https://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-Multi-Gigabit-Ethernet-lifetime-technical/dp/B075Q6NPM2

Datasheet

https://www.netgear.com/images/datasheet/switches/MS510TX-MS510TXPP.pdf

I wonder how loud that fan is...a single tiny fan