Dual Ethernet

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Christer

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Why some motherboards have dual ethernet anyway? I have a motherboard GigaByte EP45-UP45 and I see that its has dual ethernet so I curious put two cable plugged my motherboard and internet access loading and play games online seem same without dual.
 
Christer said:
Why some motherboards have dual ethernet anyway? I have a motherboard GigaByte EP45-UP45 and I see that its has dual ethernet so I curious put two cable plugged my motherboard and internet access loading and play games online seem same without dual.
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plugging in ethernet cable in both ports does nothing for you. You're still connected to 1 of them. those dual ethernet port are for server purpose.
 
Jiro said:
plugging in ethernet cable in both ports does nothing for you. You're still connected to 1 of them. those dual ethernet port are for server purpose.
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Thanks, I am not expert with server so I guess I will only use one port.
 
Your right, it is for server purpose and no it got nothing to do with LAN gaming (it is possible, anyway).

Jiro said:
plugging in ethernet cable in both ports does nothing for you. You're still connected to 1 of them. those dual ethernet port are for server purpose.
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Then why are SLI/Crossfire/CrossfireX motherboards like this one has 2 Ethernet ports? That's just overkill for servers if it's for gamers who want to get the most out of the graphics for games, even at a LAN party.
 
GraysonPeddie said:
Then why are SLI/Crossfire/CrossfireX motherboards like this one has 2 Ethernet ports? That's just overkill for servers if it's for gamers who want to get the most out of the graphics for games, even at a LAN party.
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no - it's for server purpose... such as hardcore video-editing company. but then - there are some people who are rich and bored (and ugly & virgin). They'd create their own extreme lan party.
 
The reason for two ethernet ports is really simple.. You can connect to two different networks, purely something for server purpose.

You can keep the data flowing flowing from two different networks, securely without worrying if one can see the contents of another.

Say for one example it's an office that specializes in the practice of law.
You can put all the accounting/basic PC networks of the employees on one network.
You can then put all the case evidence/client information PC's on the other network.
The two will never be able to see the stuff transferred or being shared on both sides, pure privacy without having to worry. Then the boss's PC has two ethernet ports so he can connect to both networks.

Or you could dual ethernet for other cases like "backup" data flow, for smoother latency.. really important if the server does something that needs to be realtime for the clients.

Or you could isolate one network for LAN only to share printers, fileservers and the other for WAN.


The possibilities are endless, you can do whatever you want with it.. they just provide it for you.
 
Okay, but I'm talking specifics of multiplayer gaming purposes that does not connect directly to the Internet. I know dual ethernet ports is for servers, but all the motherboard features for gaming are pretty much overkill for servers unless you have a server motherboard. Perhaps this thread should be left off to the gaming community if you're in it for gaming (3DGameMan.com, in particular).
 
GraysonPeddie said:
Okay, but I'm talking specifics of multiplayer gaming purposes that does not connect directly to the Internet. I know dual ethernet ports is for servers, but all the motherboard features for gaming are pretty much overkill for servers unless you have a server motherboard. Perhaps this thread should be left off to the gaming community if you're in it for gaming (3DGameMan.com, in particular).
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extra ethernet port in mobo designed for gaming is just a few bucks more. it's cheaper to include them for all purposes. the mobo designed for gaming can also be used for video editing/rendering - like a mini-Pixar lab. More and more studios are using off-the-shelf products to create movies.
 
Yup, sometimes it is cheaper that way, NIC built in MOBO would cost around 5 dollars. No big deal and Nasiho is correct, good post!

Also, remind that it is also part of production process cost. Sometimes it is cheaper just to throw chip while in same production than having separate production which can easily cost much more.

Jiro said:
extra ethernet port in mobo designed for gaming is just a few bucks more. it's cheaper to include them for all purposes. the mobo designed for gaming can also be used for video editing/rendering - like a mini-Pixar lab. More and more studios are using off-the-shelf products to create movies.
Click to expand...
 
naisho said:
The reason for two ethernet ports is really simple.. You can connect to two different networks, purely something for server purpose.

You can keep the data flowing flowing from two different networks, securely without worrying if one can see the contents of another.

Say for one example it's an office that specializes in the practice of law.
You can put all the accounting/basic PC networks of the employees on one network.
You can then put all the case evidence/client information PC's on the other network.
The two will never be able to see the stuff transferred or being shared on both sides, pure privacy without having to worry. Then the boss's PC has two ethernet ports so he can connect to both networks.

Or you could dual ethernet for other cases like "backup" data flow, for smoother latency.. really important if the server does something that needs to be realtime for the clients.

Or you could isolate one network for LAN only to share printers, fileservers and the other for WAN.


The possibilities are endless, you can do whatever you want with it.. they just provide it for you.
Click to expand...

Sometime I use two NIC cards on my system for network bridging. So two Ethernet jacks on mobo is a good use for me.

Newer printer have ethernet jack so It's good idea to use 2nd Ethernet for printer..

Many more...

Yes, Possibilty are endless!! There's something that others doesn't even know what benefit of having two Ethernet jacks!!

Catty
 
In addition to what has been described, Dual ethernet ports can be used for many things. I have put some examples below.

1. Trunking - This is where you will combine two physical connections to increase the size of the pipe allowing for increased bandwidth and throughput.
2. Routing or bridging between networks. - The system with two ethernet ports can act as a router or bridge between different networks.
3. Traffic isolation / Protocol seperation - Dual homed systems can seperate traffic such as broadcast from point to point and one protocol from another. (ie. TCP/IP from token ring) This is a requriemnt in many applications.
4. Load balancing - Mainly on servers load balancing is a means of balancing the traffic between network interfaces so as not to overload any given nic.

There are special considerations and care that must be taken when setting up a dual homed system unless you are simply trunking. Also dual homed systems that connect a system to multiple networks are greater targets for hackers.
 
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