# NIC Bonding in Win 7



## bpgt64 (Apr 29, 2010)

I was wondering if there was any simple way to bond Nics in Window's 7?  I am using an Intel NIC, and the on board for Asus Crosshair IV.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833106033


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## Mussels (Apr 29, 2010)

you mean for teaming?

Not a clue for different brands, my marvell onboards come with software to do it.

Its generally useless, why are you trying to do it?


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## bpgt64 (Apr 29, 2010)

I am going to have a file server with teamed nics hosting a large raid array.  I had an extra nic lying around and wanted to see if it was possible using different brands on my main machine.


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## Mussels (Apr 29, 2010)

i dont THINK its possible with different brands.


Even if you do get it working, without a managed switch with link aggregation you get no speed benefit - you just get one backup cable should one get disconnected (which doesnt help in a home situation)

In my testing, you get NO speed boost using the basic teaming methods, under any circumstances. Just fallback in case of a failure.


my methods were: three PC's hooked up to same gigabit switch (48 port unmanaged, no other PC's connected). My PC was connected with teaming. Each target machine downloaded 500GB of data off my machine, from two separate hard drives (each capable of 110MB/s reads sustained).

The end result was that while either machine could get 100MB/s sustained, adding in the second machine never resulted in faster speeds. I did get faster speeds when we tested with a managed switch and link aggregation, but as it wasnt my switch, i have no idea what settings were used.


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## bpgt64 (Apr 29, 2010)

aww weak...Thanks though..


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## ktr (Apr 29, 2010)

What are you going to run for your file server (W7 is not ideal)? If you run FreeNAS, then you can do Link Aggregation  (the proper term for bonding) with different manufactures (ideally, stick with intel). 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeNAS


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## Mussels (Apr 29, 2010)

ktr said:


> What are you going to run for your file server? If you run FreeNAS, then you can do Link Aggregation  (the proper team for bonding) with different manufactures (ideally, stick with intel).
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeNAS



but he gets no benefit if his switch cant support it, and the client machine doing the downloading doesnt support it also

2Gb on one end, 1Gb on the other end... still capped at 1Gb.


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## ktr (Apr 29, 2010)

Mussels said:


> but he gets no benefit if his switch cant support it, and the client machine doing the downloading doesnt support it also
> 
> 2Gb on one end, 1Gb on the other end... still capped at 1Gb.



But that is assuming that the file server is for one client (and if that is the case, why go through all the trouble?). What happens it to be providing to multiple clients. That is where he benefits.


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## Mussels (Apr 29, 2010)

ktr said:


> But that is assuming that the file server is for one client (and if that is the case, why go through all the trouble?). What happens it to be providing to multiple clients. That is where he benefits.



only if his switch supports link aggregation. otherwise, he doesnt.


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## bpgt64 (Apr 29, 2010)

My switch doesn't support it, but as long as I am using Ubuntu using the correct bonding method, "Round Robin", "Adaptive Load Balance" etc etc.. It doesn't matter.  I am going to be running an i7 based ESXi Machine, which will host a Pfsense VM, and a Ubuntu Server VM(which will run my File Server).


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## Flak (Apr 29, 2010)

Ahhh, pfSense... my love hate relationship.  It is one of the fastest firewall distro's I've ever used, but I've never been able to get FTP to work with non standard ports.


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## Deleted member 3 (Apr 29, 2010)

Mussels said:


> i dont THINK its possible with different brands.



It is under Linux, not under Windows. Apparently it's handled on a different level in both OSes. I'm not sure about the exact technical details of that. Unless of course the software detects all NICs in the system and can add them, I would not expect so though.

Anyway, under Windows you can do it via device manager, as long as you have the software of your NIC installed. This is what it looks like for Intel and Marvell. (don't have any other NICs, no clue how other brands handle it)










If there is a switch in between it has to support trunking/teaming/bonding/link aggregation/whatever name you prefer, the 802.3 standard.


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## Mussels (Apr 29, 2010)

i run PFsense as well... and yes, wtf is up with FTP being broken on it?


edit: thats the software i used on mine, it has three modes. One is crap and only provides a backup, the other two required a switch with aggregation.


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## bpgt64 (Apr 29, 2010)

Well, looks like I have an extra nic if the Win 7 can't use it...oh well.  I'll just have to use 3 teamed nics on the ESX server!!!  Thank god I bought a 16 port switch....


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## ktr (Apr 29, 2010)

Flak said:


> Ahhh, pfSense... my love hate relationship.  It is one of the fastest firewall distro's I've ever used, but I've never been able to get FTP to work with non standard ports.





Mussels said:


> i run PFsense as well... and yes, wtf is up with FTP being broken on it?



http://baudizm.blogsome.com/2008/08/20/allow-outbound-ftp-through-pfsense-firewall/


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## Mussels (Apr 30, 2010)

ktr said:


> http://baudizm.blogsome.com/2008/08/20/allow-outbound-ftp-through-pfsense-firewall/



thats not the problem i have, i cant connect outbound to any FTP servers... like, i cant download files from realtek without bypassing the PFsense box. i tried the fix in that guide. didnt help.


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